Tahoe Daily Tirbune and The Lake Tahoe News
Cory McConnell
July 12, 2005
CARSON CITY - The fate of an embattled 500-home subdivision on 120 acres
south of here is again in jeopardy, with the Washoe tribe suing Carson City
to overturn supervisors' approval of the project in May.
A zoning change paving the way for a subdivision on vacant land near the
Douglas County line narrowly missed approval by the planning commission
earlier this spring. The commission gave the plan a favorable 4-2 vote when
it needed five votes to succeed.
The proposal was scheduled to come before supervisors whether it passed or
failed in the planning commission. But the tribe's attorneys, citing city
codes, say the commission has the last word on amendments of the city's
master plan unless its decision is appealed.
The decision on the development near Schulz Way and Racetrack Road was not
appealed, so supervisors, the tribe contends, had no authority to overturn
it. The tribe filed the civil lawsuit in Carson City District Court last
month, and the city was served last week.
Carson City Deputy District Attorney Melanie Bruketta said city officials
did not over-reach their authority.
"State law empowers the Board of Supervisors to regulate and restrict
improvements of the land in Carson City," Bruketta said.
Neither Tribal General Counsel Tim Seward nor Rob Story, the Reno-area
attorney representing the tribe in the lawsuit, could be reached for comment
Monday.
The tribe, which owns property adjacent to the proposed development, also
charges the subdivision will be detrimental to the environment, public
health, safety and cultural resources.
The subdivision, which is planned with lots ranging from 4,000 to 5,000
square feet up to a half-acre in size, would create extra traffic on Center
Drive - an unsafe prospect, according to the lawsuit. Tribal members of all
ages must regularly cross Center Drive to get to classes, foods programs,
athletic events and a variety of other community programs.
The plan would also send more traffic through the historic Stewart Indian
School, according to the lawsuit, affecting the cultural significance of the
site.
The tribe also contends a subdivision on the swath of land near the Champion
Speedway racetrack will damage the Clear Creek watershed and the tribe's
efforts to restore it and reintroduce the threatened Lahontan cutthroat
trout.
Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira said state laws and city codes force a
developer to prove a subdivision won't endanger the public or harm the
environment, and all that comes after supervisors' passage of the zoning
change.
"Those studies have to be complete and those issues have to be addressed,"
Teixeira said Monday.
Just before supervisors passed the master plan amendment and zoning change
in May, Teixeira told a group of residents who had been opposing the
suburban development in their largely rural neighborhood "I don't know if
this project is going to fly after all the studies are done, but I guarantee
you we're going to take a real close look."
The city has until late August to respond in Carson City District Court.