Proposed industrial park in Stagecoach attracts anger, criticism

A room full of 70 angry people is enough to make a developer think twice.

A plan to develop land off Iron Mountain Drive in Stagecoach for an industrial park is beginning to look a little less likely, the developer's representative said Thursday.

Dennis Smith, a principal with Western Engineering & Surveying, said the developers will decide today if they want to continue with the proposed industrial project, despite raucous objections from neighbors.

Smith was the focus of aggression for about 70 residents who attended Wednesday night's meeting of the Stagecoach Advisory Board.

Nevada Land & Resource Co. owns the 1,200 acres, which reach into both Storey and Lyon counties. It planned to develop a high-tech industrial park, but the proposal calls for the change in land-use and zoning designations on the 550 acres in the Stagecoach area. All utilities and access would be through Lyon County because Storey County doesn't have the needed infrastructure. And so far Stagecoach residents have been disinclined to give their approval.

Patrick McIntyre of Stagecoach said when he left the meeting he felt their concerns had been voiced.

"No one, absolutely no one, wanted the industrial site to be approved," he said.

Diana Holland, who lives on Seminole Road, was still fuming about the meeting Thursday afternoon. One of her complaints was with Lyon County, because she said most of the Iron Mountain Estates' residents were not informed about the project. They had to hear about it from each other.

According to Lyon County code, a zone change application requires notification of the nearest 30 individual property owners and all owners within 300 feet. Because Iron Mountain Estates contains five-acre parcels and above, many residents were too far away to receive that letter of notification.

Smith, the developer's representative, said that is exactly the problem with the county's notification method in rural areas like Stagecoach.

"The county only notifies a minimum number of people within 300 feet," he said. "So with those large lots, people are a quarter-mile away, but they still feel like they'll be impacted."

Smith said the industrial park was proposed to Lyon County officials two or three months ago.

"The residents prefer to see residential development above them," he said. "And industrial is not a suitable development as far as they were concerned because of traffic and water."

The developers were at the meeting. Smith said they will decide today whether to go ahead and pursue the zone change.

The Lyon County Planning Commission will discuss the zone change application at its Tuesday morning meeting. The board meets in the commissioner's office, 27 S. Main St. in Yerington.

Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.