Gardnerville Walmart has stirred debate

There has been considerable discussion in the community about Walmart's plans to build a store in Gardnerville.

The county has heard concerns from numerous citizens about Walmart's plans.

The board of commissioners shares citizens' concerns about the impact to other local businesses - particularly small businesses owned and operated by our citizens.

While the board of commissioners does have broad powers over land use in Douglas County, they do not have the legal authority to deny Walmart from locating in our community unless Walmart fails to meet all federal, state and local requirements. The site that Walmart is planning to build on has the appropriate zoning (general commercial) and their site improvement plans meet government requirements for infrastructure (i.e. transportation, water, sewer, drainage, etc.).

The only current outstanding issue is the design of the building. As of Oct. 23, staff from Douglas County and the Town of Gardnerville are continuing to work with Walmart representatives in the design review process. This is a process where the exterior look or building elevations are examined to ensure that they are consistent with any conceptual plans that guide development on the site.

The site Walmart is proposing to build is part of the Virginia Ranch Specific Plan. Walmart has made adjustments to their original submittal based on county and Town of Gardnerville direction, but additional changes are needed to be more in line with the Virginia Ranch Specific Plan.

The planning commission and board of commissioners will not be involved in the approval process unless Walmart's design is deemed unacceptable by the community development director and Walmart appeals the director's decision.

Once again, this is because the site has the proper zoning and Walmart's plans meet government requirements.

Background on the county's work with Walmart

• Community development staff received a design review application on Aug. 4 from Pentacor Engineering on behalf of Sierra Nevada SW Enterprises, to construct a 152,495 square foot retail store (Walmart) at 1161 Highway 395 in Gardnerville (between Service Drive and Charlotte Way) within the existing general commercial planned development zoning district.

• The application was deemed complete by County staff on Aug. 7.

• Design Review is an administrative review (community development director approval) since the retail use is allowed in the zoning district. County staff has notified abutting properties for their comments.

The Town of Gardnerville heard the item on Sept. 1 and allowed a second continuance to Nov. 3 in order to allow the applicant additional time to revise the building elevations and allow the applicant to work with the two adjacent property owners on driveway access issues onto Highway 395. More recently, the town received a request for a third continuance, to the Dec. 1 town board meeting.

• Final action by the county on the design review application must be completed by Dec. 11.

• The site is not located within Gardnerville's Plan for Prosperity, but needs to incorporate some features identified in the town's and county's design manuals, as well as, the Virginia Ranch Specific Plan, which this site is a part of.

• Traffic improvements consider a new traffic signal at the intersection of Highway 395 and a new street, Grant Drive, which will connect to Muller Parkway to the north. The site is situated back from the highway frontage, at the intersection of Grant Road and Muller Parkway.

The county is also processing an abandonment request for the owner to abandon and realign various public utility easements and irrigation/drainage easements, including a portion of a road right-of-way in order to accommodate the development of the site. These abandonments are necessary since they bisect the site, making it difficult for any future retail use to provide proper access, drainage, and site design.

As a point of clarification, the county did not rezone the 24-acre site to accommodate this retail user per the settlement agreement with Scotsman Development Corporation and Nevada Northwest LLC. The 24-acre site was already zoned general commercial under the Virginia Ranch Specific Plan in 2004. More recently, the owner established a commercial planned development overlay zone over the site in May 2009, which is required for a master plan designated receiving area. As part of a public hearing process, both the planning commission and board of commissioners heard the specific plan and the planned development overlay zoning requests.

While the settlement agreement does provide for up to 100 acres of commercial zoning within the specific plan boundary, the total acreage includes the existing 24 acres where the Walmart store is planned.

Because the Virginia Ranch Spe­cific Plan enjoys a master plan designation of receiving area, the additional commercial zoning is consistent with the planned urban development contemplated under the adopted master plan.

In addition, since the site is located in a master plan receiving area, any commercial development of the site requires the owner to transfer 10 development rights for every acre of development area. As a result, Walmart would be required to transfer approximately 240 development rights to support the project, resulting in the creation of over 100 acres of conservation land elsewhere in Carson Valley.

Questions? Please contact the county manager's office at 782­9821. Have a great day.

T. Michael Brown is Douglas County manager and a Minden resident.