New Storey County planner's rise a fast one

Vince Angle expects Storey County's population to double in the next three to five years and wants to make sure the county is well prepared for the growth.

He said the planned unit development expected to be built at Painted Rock in the northeast end of the county won't happen for about three to five years.

"That's the way we want it," he said. "We don't want to be inundated with growth we don't have the services for. We want to do it smart so it will not burden the taxpayers.

A zone change and master plan amendment has already been approved for the development.

Angle said if Painted Rock is built out to the extent developers would like, it could add 10,000 residents to the county, which now has a total of about 4,000.

"As long as there is available land for development people will want to develop," he said, but cautioned that if the housing market doesn't pick up, it could be a lot longer before new residents start moving in.

"A lot of it has to do with the housing market," he said. "Some say the downturn is going to last to 2015, another 10 years."

In the long run the county will still need housing for workers at Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, which hasn't been severely affected by a slowdown, Angle said.

He and others in the county are working on an ordinance that will require developers to show they have water and where it will come from before allowing any zone or master plan changes.

Angle, 31, started his career in education, but later decided planning was more to his liking.

"I like to be a part of the development process and have a hand in what shapes our community," he said, adding with all the growth in Northern Nevada, planning is vital if communities are going to control what happens in and around them.

Although he has had experience in both the public and private sector, Angle said being a planner for a rural county gives him a chance to be involved in all planning issues.

"You become a jack-of-all-trades and you have a hand in every kind of development if you work in a rural county," he said.

He gets to work on major industrial projects like TRI, residential developments like Painted Rock, research statutes and writing ordinances, present projects to the Planning Commission and work closely with developers. He has to be up-to-date on water issues, zoning and building codes, handle advance planning and look at flood plains.

"Your schedule fills up really quickly," he said.

He was hired as senior planner in November, the first one Storey County has had, after spending a year as an associate planner with the City of Reno. Before that he worked for Poggemeyer Design Group and served an internship with Loomis.

Though he was born in Oregon, Angle spent most of his life in Nevada, where his father worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Winnemucca and Tonopah.

He attended first Grand Canyon University in Arizona and then the University of Nevada, Reno, where he graduated in 2005 with a degree in education.

After teaching history and geography at Galena, Spanish Springs and North Valleys high schools, he returned to UNR to get his master's degree in land-use planning. He still lives in Reno with his wife, Jessica, and their three sons, Vince Jr., Vaughn and Victor. Another son is expected in May.

"We're going to name him Valor," he said. "We decided to name any boys with V names and girls with J names, but we have all boys."

Angle acknowledges the north end of the county will have the most growth, though Mark Twain has the potential for industrial, and he is working on regulations on building in drainage areas and defining the flood plain.

He doesn't see much growth in Virginia City, though lots still are being sold and some spec houses are being built, because the infrastructure, limits on water hookups and attitudes of residents would keep it small.

"It's a unique area, with the history," he said. "And people up here want the small-town environment."

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 881-7351.