The Washoe County Planning Commission just voted to deny the rezoning needed for a massive rural sprawl project northwest of Reno, NV.  CEDS assisted efforts of  2,000 area residents to preserve their quality of life from this poorly planned project. 

A primary concern was the traffic impact this and two other projects would have by adding more than 90,000 vehicles trips/day to a narrow, two-lane road.  While there was a plan to widen the road to four lanes, CEDS research indicated that at least a six-lane freeway would be needed to accommodate the huge volume of traffic.  CEDS research also showed that the tremendous traffic volume would have jeopardized the health of area children due to exhaust pollutants and reduced the likelihood area residents could evacuate in the event of an emergency in this wildfire-prone area. 

As with all our cases, CEDS urged our clients to negotiate with the development interests to find an Equitable Solution to each concern.  In May we sent a letter to the developer asking to meet.  The letter stated that the community wished to work with the developer to determine how many homes could be built on the 780-acre site without degrading quality of life for both current and future residents.  Unfortunately, the developer never met with the community.  

These concerns and our efforts to work with the developer were presented in two CEDS letter submitted to the Planning Commission.  We believe these letters and testimony from our clients prompted the Commission to deny the developer’s rezoning request.  Both letters are posted at: https://ceds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Red-Rock-Road-Traffic-Quality-of-Life.pdf