Gardnerville projects will fill in commercial core

Two projects on Gardnerville’s southern boundary are underway.

Dirt work on the site of a Gardnerville Maverik has been underway for months. Earlier this month proponents sought approval for a tentative parcel map.

The company, which owns the Minden Maverik, won approval of a tentative parcel map in 2019, but didn’t record a final map before the approval expired in 2020.

A Maverik representative said that issues with access onto Highway 395 delayed the project and convinced the owners to build the gas station and convenience store in two phases.

Gardnerville Town Board members recommended approval of the tentative map at their Jan. 5 meeting.

Town Manager Erik Nilssen said there were two changes in the proposed configuration, including elimination of the diesel fueling station on the north side of the building.

The other change was required by the Nevada Department of Transportation, which rejected a plan for a north driveway onto Highway 395.

The company purchased the 8.65 acre parcel in May 2019 for $2 million, according to the Douglas County Recorder’s Office.

The entire parcel is zoned neighborhood commercial, but just as they did with the Minden Gateway Center, Maverik purchased the whole lot and is dividing it into three parcels.

One half-acre parcel will go to a retention basin, the Maverik will sit on a 3.25-acre parcel and the last parcel will be reserved for a future commercial development. Whatever is proposed for that site would return to the town board for comment and conditions.

The project is located at Highway 395 and Elges Avenue and Maverik is required to contribute to a traffic signal at the intersection. Any light would be subject to state approval, which is far from guaranteed.

Next door to the future Maverik is a multi-family project on a 2.78-acre project that’s also seeking to renew its tentative map.

The property owned by Ruins to Riches would split off the current Guns and Ammo store parcel and then create three parcels on the rest of the property. The three other parcels would be home to five four-plex apartment buildings.

Owners have begun site improvements in preparation for construction.

Between the two projects and work completed south of town, including the new Tires Plus and Heritage Bank, Gardnerville’s commercial core extends south from Waterloo Lane to Grant Avenue north of Highway 395. Much of the other side of the highway is the Hussman Ranch, which was one of the first conservation easements established under the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. The act permitted the sale of federal land in the Las Vegas Valley to raise money for projects across the Silver State. In Carson Valley, money raised from the sales has been used to purchase easements designed to preserve agricultural property.