Combs Canyon housing plan returns in more upscale form

A modified plan to build homes near the intersection of Combs Canyon Road and Timberline Drive will be in front of a Carson City citizens panel Wednesday.

Members of the Planning Commission will consider recommending the latest subdivision plan for the area, a 57-acre site near Western Nevada Community College, to contain 23 homes.

"It's a very compatible subdivision," said Bruce Kittress, who lives nearby.

This is a very different reaction from when the site was slated for 78 homes on 82 acres of land - Kittress described the old version as a "schlock plan."

It also was rejected by the commissioners and Board of Supervisors. Land owner Steve Selinger threatened the city with legal action because it contained "low-income housing," and the city couldn't reject that housing proposed as part of the plan without incurring the wrath of the federal government.

City officials said how low-income housing would have been included in the old plan wasn't clear. Some even cited the lack of description as a significant reason why they couldn't get behind the project.

Kittress and other neighbors still have concerns about water service, which has failed from time to time. The new homes will need to hook-up to the current system.

No one "wants it to be compromised," especially because the area is fire-prone, Kittress and others have pointed out.

If something were to happen there, residents wouldn't want to hear city officials say "Gee whiz, we missed that one," Kittress added.

In the new plan, homes will be on lots from 1 acre to 16 acres, and the average will exceed two acres. The remaining 25 acres, which are on a different parcel, aren't part of the new plan.

The homes will be custom-designed, said Audra Miller of Lumos and Associates, the firm hired to create the subdivision map and requests for any design variances.

The custom-design aspect "is similar to the City View subdivision," Miller said.

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.

If you go

What: Carson City Planning

Commission meeting

When: 3:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Sierra Room, Community Center, 851 E. William St.

Also on the agenda

Action to amend a special-use permit issued to ABC Learning Center, 151 E. Park St., to allow the child-care business to increase its number of children receiving care from 60 to 90.