Planning commission forwards comp‑plan amendment, rezoning and CUP for 4‑story mini‑warehouse at 3940 Pyramid Way

The planning commission considered three linked applications for 3940 Pyramid Way: a comprehensive‑plan land‑use amendment (LLR to Commercial), rezone from SF‑40 to C‑2, and a conditional‑use permit to allow a 108,900‑square‑foot, four‑story, climate‑controlled mini‑warehouse on a 1.88‑acre parcel. Senior planner Danny Ray said the applicant’s engineers list the parcel at 1.58 acres (assessor: 1.88 acres), described surrounding uses (BLM land, Sparks Galleria, Wedekind Regional Park), and noted the site had a demolished residence and disturbed soils.

Ray summarized site controls and mitigation measures: preliminary grading to minimize cut and fill, 10,324 square feet of landscaping (15% of the parcel), the provision of 23 trees and shrubs to meet code, and architectural articulation to reduce perceived massing from Pyramid Way. Staff accepted an ITE parking analysis that identifies 15 parking spaces as adequate (the municipal-code default would yield 55) and said the trip-generation estimate is about 158 average daily trips with a 10 AM peak of 10 trips and 16 PM peak trips, so a separate traffic‑impact analysis was not required. Because the nearest sanitary sewer main is more than 1,000 feet away and Sparks code requires connections within 300 feet, staff and the applicant worked with Northern Nevada Public Health and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection on a septic system proposal for this specific low‑demand use.

During the public hearing, resident David Hendricks asked whether construction traffic and the difficult Pyramid/Disc Drive turning movements would be managed; transportation staff and planning staff responded that potential right‑of‑way impacts and temporary traffic controls are reviewed at the permit stage and would be required if transportation staff determine controls are necessary. After brief discussion, the commission voted to forward a recommendation to the City Council to: adopt the comprehensive‑plan amendment (resolution number 247), rezone the parcel to C‑2, and approve the CUP subject to the 11 conditions listed in the staff report. Staff described the next procedural steps: regional planning conformance review followed by City Council certification and subsequent readings or hearings for rezoning and the CUP.