Traditions casino approved

Dayton will get a new casino by next Memorial Day if all goes as planned.

The Lyon County Commissioners on Thursday approved a special-use permit for a casino/hotel to be built at the entryway of the already approved Traditions planned-unit development.

The approval came despite some disagreement among county staff and the developers, who disagreed on a variety of changes from the original design guidelines filed in 2004 when the development was approved.

County Planning Director Rob Loveberg said there were four main points of disagreement, and that his interpretation of the design guidelines was stricter than the developers.

"We came to the determination that the plans as proposed did not meet the guidelines that were adopted by the board of commissioners," he said.

The four points of disagreement were:

1. There is a 20- to 30-foot greenway designed for the western side of the property that would be a buffer from homes, while in the original plan it is a linear connection between a large lake and smaller ponds.

2. A landscape buffer along Highway 50 was to be 93 feet in the original design, but the developers now wanted only 30 feet.

3. A different entry into the project which would increase the size to one acre landscaped on each side of Traditions Parkway, and include water features smaller than was originally planned.

4. The orientation of the casino not part of the Main Street or Town Center that had been planned; rather it just sat in the middle of a parking lot.

"One of the important things is you don't damage the consistency of the design guidelines or it will come back to haunt the county," Loveberg said.

Susan Dorr, of Manhard Consulting, said that the developers considered the guidelines a "living document" not something that is rigid and unyielding, but one that could change when the need arose.

She explained that since the developers found they could not use reclaimed water for the lake and ponds, they cut the amount of water and put the greenway in its place, because it would not be a good use for domestic water.

Dorr responded that no one could ascertain where the 93-foot buffer was to begin. She had thought it would begin at Highway 50 and include the Nevada Department of Transportation right-of-way, but Loveberg defined it as beginning at the property edge.

Project manager Don Smit said that would eliminate two rows of parking and pose other problems for the project and eventual homeowners. He also said the casino was not really in the Town Center area, but at the entrance to the development, putting it in a general commercial corridor.

Commissioner LeRoy Goodman agreed with the developers' view of the guidelines.

"Guidelines are just that, guidelines," he said. "They're not the 10 Commandments, they're not ordinances, they're not etched in stone. Things change."

Commissioner Phyllis Hunewill opposed approval because she agreed with Loveberg that the developers should go through the design process again.

"I'm not opposed to what you want to do, I'm concerned about the process," she said. She was the only vote opposed to the special-use permit.

Architect Randy Black showed the commissioners floor plans, drawings and the colors and types of materials that would be used in the interior of the casino and later the hotel.

The first phase of the project will be 79,000 square feet, with 30,000 of that casino space, with a poker room, two restaurants and bars. The second phase will include a 250-room hotel, fitness area, a third restaurant and pool.

Smit estimated ground will be broken by Sept. 1 and the casino would be open by Memorial Day 2009, adding the project would bring $805,620 in building, water and other fees to the county.

He also said the developers feel good about employment, because Dayton has a ready workforce that is just working elsewhere.

"The employees are already there," he said. "They leave the Dayton Valley every day to go to Carson City, Lake Tahoe and Reno. We think they will want to stay home."

He anticipated 147 employees making an average of $30,000 per year, with a jump after three years to 231 employees making an average of $34,000 a year.

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