Resident asks Reno to remove gate blocking Truckee Riverwalk at East First Street

Reno resident Damien Cole told the City Council on July 16 that a gate and fence currently block a section of the Truckee Riverwalk at 180 E. 1st St., and he urged the city to restore public access.

"So it is a public easement," Cole said during public comment, asserting that, under Nevada law, the path has been in public use for decades and can become a prescriptive easement if an owner does not post signs to prevent such rights. He said the walkway has been in use since 1972 and that city records and signage support the walkway's shared-use status.

Cole said the property owner had correspondence with the city in 2024 about a fence along the walkway and had previously acknowledged the area as a public walkway. Cole asked the city to find the property owner and have public works remove the fence. He also offered color printouts he created to illustrate the Riverwalk's master-plan vision.

Neither city staff nor council members provided an immediate enforcement response during the public-comment period recorded in the transcript. The transcript records Cole citing "NRS" as the governing law for prescriptive easements but does not specify the statute section.

Council members did not take action on Cole's request at the meeting; staff later noted that seven written comments had been filed after the public-comment deadline and would be posted with the final packet on the public portal.