A Carson City Community Development graph showing total residential building permits by type each year since 2014.
Courtesy
With residents supportive and opposed to a 62-foot-tall amateur radio tower in a residential zone, Carson City planning commissioners on Tuesday voted 5-0 to approve a special use permit for the structure that many argued would be essential in emergencies.
Commissioners Nathaniel Killgore and Teri Preston were absent.
The applicant, Michael Vicari, proposed the antenna for property zoned single family 1 acre at 1630 S. Deer Run Road.
On Aug. 28, planning commissioners unanimously remanded an appeal of the Community Development director’s denial of a building permit for the structure back to the director for further review.
Vicari had appealed the building permit denial May 8 and then submitted, over the summer, additional information on effective radio communications, an area of use regulated by the federal government and over which local jurisdictions have limited control.
For the purposes of Tuesday’s hearing, planning staff considered the antenna an accessory structure “subject to compliance with the 32-foot height limitations of the SF1A zoning district, unless a special use permit is obtained to exceed the height limitations,” according to the agenda.
“The code of federal regulations requires that state and local regulations for these antenna structures do not preclude amateur radio service and that we reasonably accommodate such communication,” said Carson City Planning Manager Heather Ferris.
Ferris continued: “It’s worth noting that the communications analysis provided in the August information notes that even with the 62-foot height limitation, the applicant is essentially settling for reliability of less than 60 percent and is willing to operate within these limitations as it is a compromise between the height limits in the code and something much taller than 62 feet, which would provide the applicant with better reliability and operations.”
Ferris emphasized the use is allowed in the specific residential district and that the SUP should be reviewed in terms of the appropriateness of the height.
The city received six letters about the project as late material for the hearing — two in favor and four against.
“The size alone should be a sufficient enough argument to not approve this structure in an SF1A residential neighborhood,” nearby property owner Lorna Coclich wrote Dec. 14. “The structure would be as tall as one telephone pole when retracted; when deployed, about two telephone poles. Another way of putting it is: a six-story building. A six-story structure has no place in the proposed location or any residential area!”
Another resident wrote in support of HAM, or amateur, radio.
“HAM radio is a hobby and service that brings people together throughout the world via electronics and can be a lifeline during times of emergency,” Jackie Pias Carlin wrote on Dec. 16. “We cannot deprive a neighbor of his/her interests, especially since Mr. Vicari’s hobby does not incur loud noises or interferes with the neighborhood’s lifestyle.”
Vicari told commissioners more neighbors favored the project than opposed it. He said the metallic structure would be gray and subdued in color like military aircraft, and he expressed confidence that in the event of structural failure, the antenna would not leave his property.
“From a personal standpoint, I have a lot of respect for HAM operators because when I was in Vietnam, that was the only way you could call home,” said Planning Commissioner Charles Borders.
Wearing a U.S. Army Vietnam vet hat, Vicari said he was also in Vietnam operating MARS, the Military Auxiliary Radio System.
In other action:
• Planning commissioners unanimously recommended the Board of Supervisors approve amendments to four conditions of approval (out of 51) in the already-approved tentative subdivision map for Blackstone Ranch South.
The property, zoned single family 6,000, is located east of the end of Railroad Drive within the Blackstone Ranch South Specific Plan Area. The tentative map was approved by supervisors in 2019 and included 103 residential lots, according to the city.
D.R. Horton Inc.-NNV was the applicant, and the changes allow bonding for required infrastructure and limit construction access to East 5th Street, mandating the buildout of Railroad Drive to East 5th Street to accommodate construction traffic.
Some members of the public were concerned the amendments would affect trail connectivity and pedestrian access, but Associate Planner Heather Manzo assured them all but the four conditions of approval for the project would remain the same.
Manzo noted the extension of Railroad Drive would line up with Matterhorn Drive in the Lompa Ranch North development.
“All of it has been designed to tie in really well to increase safety and reduce the amount of potential conflicts there might be with both pedestrians and vehicular access,” Manzo said.
• Planning commissioners unanimously recommended the Board of Supervisors accept the city’s annual Master Plan report.
The Master Plan, adopted in 2006, is being updated with board adoption expected for spring.
“The updated Master Plan will have a revised action plan and revised priorities. Given the anticipated adoption of an updated plan, the existing action plan is not addressed in the annual report,” Community Development Director Hope Sullivan wrote.
The annual report noted Master Plan amendments in the last year including the 3.64 acres at the southern end of Louise Drive changed to community/regional commercial by a 3-2 vote of the Board of Supervisors in November. That move, in conjunction with an approved Planned Unit Development, enabled specific commercial use of the property as an RV and boat storage facility.
The annual report also revealed growth trends.
“Residential construction significantly picked up in 2016 after nine years of virtually no residential growth during the recession,” reads the report. “The multifamily residential construction in 2023 includes 160 units at Sierra Flats, 81 units on Brown Street, and 126 units at Eagles Landing. The large spike in 2018 reflects permits for the 370 Carson Hills apartment units being issued in a single year. Single family detached construction is occurring throughout the city with the bulk of the permits being issued at Lompa Ranch and Andersen Ranch.”
According to Community Development, there were 520 residential building permits (all types) issued in 2023, versus 260 this year (through November).
“The State Demographer anticipates an annual growth rate of less than 1 percent, with growth slowing year after year. The city’s population as certified by the State Demographer is 58,923 people on July 1, 2023,” according to the report.
The report also found, based on building permit valuation, an increase in new commercial and commercial remodel activity (like tenant improvements) this year as compared to 2023.
“Residential construction has been less active in 2024 than in 2022 or 2023, but non-residential activity has increased,” according to the report.