The Vicee Canyon Specific Plan Area document should be shelved until sale of the land appears more likely, members of the Planning Commission determined late Wednesday.
About 80 residents came to the meeting - virtually all were there to voice their objections to the plan. This large turnout likely attributed to the decision, said resident LeAnn Saarem.
"It made a difference. People came and spoke their heart," she said.
The commissioners voted 6-1 not to recommend the document to the Board of Supervisors. The board is tentatively scheduled to hear the issue later next month.
The Vicee Canyon plan deals mostly with how to control potential development of 267 acres in west Carson City, next to Western Nevada Community College and accessible from Timberline Drive.
Up to 160 acres would be suitable for low-density residential development - no more than three units for each acre - according to a master plan. The specific plan for Vicee Canyon, however, seeks a lower density of 1.4 homes per acre.
Vicee is part of the state's school trust fund and managed by the Nevada Division of State Lands. Land owned by a government entity in Nevada can't be sold directly to another government entity; it must be put up for auction.
City and state officials have said no one is seeking to buy the land, at least now.
Members of the city's Open Space Advisory Committee recommended the proposal to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. The Parks and Recreation commissioners, however, decided not to do so, and asked the Board of Supervisors to seek a change in state law that would ease this type of transaction.
-- Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.