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Reno staff seek nonprofit registry feedback; community warns fees would hurt small organizations
Summary
City licensing staff solicited community input on a possible nonprofit registration to improve zoning and safety data, but nonprofits and advocates at the outreach session urged voluntary databases and partnerships and strongly opposed any fee that could threaten services.
City licensing staff convened a public outreach session to gather feedback on whether Reno should require nonprofits to register with the city, and attendees urged caution, favored voluntary approaches and warned that fees could reduce services.
Lance Ferrato, director of licensing and code enforcement, opened the session and said staff have no drafted ordinance or fee schedule and are collecting input to include in a report to the City Council. Ferrato described planning and safety problems that motivate the idea — for example, he said a cannabis business was approved next to a rehab facility because the nonprofit was not on city maps — and noted the city’s voluntary registry currently lists roughly 317 organizations while staff estimate more than 2,000 nonprofits operate in the area.
Why it matters: Staff said a local registry could reduce land-use conflicts and help inspection teams locate occupied facilities, but multiple speakers warned that mandatory registration or fees could be burdensome for volunteer-led and arts organizations and could put sensitive shelters at risk if confidentiality is not protected.
At the session, nonprofit leaders proposed alternatives. Blake Pang, president and CEO of United Way of Northern Nevada, said a recent convening of area nonprofits was “completely unanimous” in opposing required registration and any fee structure and offered United Way’s help to convene nonprofits and elected officials for in‑person discussion. Several other speakers, including arts and neighborhood groups, urged the city to first pursue a voluntary, publicly searchable database or to partner with existing compilers such as Truckee Meadows and community foundations.
Details and numbers from the session: Ferrato said the city’s voluntary registration has historically charged $25 but lacks renewal or annual verification, which has left records outdated. Staff reported more than 200 survey responses collected so far and signaled they plan to present a report to council in late January or February. Community members raised specific concerns about confidential locations (domestic‑violence and trafficking shelters), whether churches would be exempt under state and federal religious‑freedom protections, and whether a registry would apply to nonprofits merely operating in the city or only those incorporated in Reno.
Representative quotes from the session include: “We do not support any type of required registration and specifically a fee structure of any type for nonprofits operating in our area,” said Blake Pang. Lance Ferrato summarized the staff position: “We only have about 317 of those in our system of the 2,000 plus nonprofits in [the area], and of those 317, we’re not sure exactly how many of those are accurate.”
Next steps: Ferrato said staff will compile the outreach responses, survey results and meeting recordings into a report and return to City Council in late January or February for further direction. Participants were encouraged to submit written comments to blcode@reno.gov and to complete the online survey at reno.gov/businesslicense.
No formal decision or ordinance was adopted during the session; the meeting was an information‑gathering and feedback event for staff and council consideration.
