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Developer presents plan to turn Rhyolite aggregate pit into neighborhood; board questions housing mix and affordability
Summary
Applicant proposed annexing 252 acres and rezoning to a Specific Plan District to allow reclamation and future residential development (about 350 units proposed, with 138 acres of open space); board members pressed for more multifamily and affordable units and raised drainage concerns.
Andy Dirling of Wood Rogers presented on behalf of Rhyolite and owner Chris Bena a package of land‑use requests for about 252 acres currently used as an aggregate facility: annexation into the City of Reno, a master‑plan amendment and rezoning to a Specific Plan District (SPD) to govern reclamation and future development.
Dirling said the site has been an aggregate facility since the 1970s and that the special‑use permit allowed mining through about 2050, though the owner expects material to be largely exhausted sooner. The SPD shows a future build‑out scenario that could include about 92 acres of SF‑8 use (single‑family at 8 units per acre), townhomes and up to about 350 residential units overall, plus 138 acres of open space and revegetated slopes. He described a reclamation plan using native seed blends (sagebrush and grasses) and a detention facility to manage runoff; he also said the city would not record a final map until reclamation grading is complete.
Board members pressed on housing type and affordability. Chair Brad Conway said Reno needs multifamily and questioned the single‑family emphasis; Bill Newman asked whether any units would be set aside as affordable—Dirling said the project would be market rate. The applicant said the steep, benched topography makes large multifamily footprints less practical but that townhomes and “missing‑middle” housing types remain options within the SPD.
On flooding and drainage, the applicant noted downstream detention infrastructure and plans for on‑site detention outlets. The applicant said neighborhood meetings and required regional reviews (Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency) will be scheduled prior to planning commission and city council hearings.
Next procedural steps include an applicant‑hosted neighborhood meeting (likely early September) and planning commission and council hearings later in the fall; no land‑use approvals were made at the meeting.
