Shopping center will offer Daytonites more commercial options

Developer Mike Walker had big plans for Como Gardens, a proposed plan to turn 8.7 acres next to his Dayton Valley Floral & Nursery on Dayton Valley Road into a veritable Eden of enterprise.

Then he found out a pie-shaped half-acre of land the county sold him actually belonged to the Bureau of Land Management and was deeded to the county for use only as a park or for similar public purposes.

Mark Struble, BLM spokesman, has said the agency investigated the sale and found the county did not act deliberately in selling the lot, which it acquired in 1984, but the parcel still must only be used for public purposes.

That was four years ago, and now the revamped Como Gardens is back.

While the fate of the pie-shaped section is still unknown - it still can't be sold to a developer - the development has been redesigned, resubmitted, and as of Tuesday, approved 4-1 by the Lyon County Planning Commission.

"We plan to build it better than anyone else because I live in Dayton, and I think it should be upgraded," Walker said. "It will be very good for the county and the Dayton area."

Phase 1 of the development planned for the corner of Dayton Valley and Como roads will include 16 individually owned commercial buildings ranging from 530 to 10,167 square feet, said Dennis Smith, engineer on the project. He said there would be more parking than the county required and no off-street parking anywhere in the development.

Walker said seven of the properties are sold or in escrow, and he expects the development to include an orthodontist, insurance and title companies, a hair salon and a restaurant - for starters.

In addition to parking and landscaping, the project will feature a private road, Garden Way, to run from Dayton Valley Road through the development to Como Road.

Smith said the second phase of the plan was not finished and objected to demands by Lyon County Planning Director Rob Loveberg to either split the property into two parcels or offer a design for Phase II.

"We don't know how it will play out," Smith said. "The market dictates how the phasing goes; this is not a residential subdivision."

Smith said the development will include a property owner's association to oversee maintenance of the grounds and other matters.

The Dayton Regional Advisory Council voted to approve the project last week.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.