Carson City supervisors hear update on election mailings

Before business got underway Thursday at the Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting, city leaders heard an update from Carson City Clerk-Recorder Scott Hoen on election mailings in preparation of the Nov. 5 general election.

Hoen told the Appeal there was a delay getting ballots out due to last-minute changes for some candidates in the federal races. He said ballots were going into the mail Friday, and Carson residents could expect sample ballots and mail ballots early next week.

Hoen additionally told supervisors that mailers sent with voter registration cards this week were an error.

“Voters received a mailer from the Nevada Secretary of State with their new voter registration card that is causing confusion and generating many calls and emails to our office asking what to do about signing the postcard,” Hoen said in statement. “Originally, the SOS was going to send you a new voter registration card and ask you to update your voter information. Asking you to return the post card with your signature, your driver’s license and the last four (digits) of your social.

“As the Clerk-Recorder, I objected to that and asked the SOS to not make that request of voters, so they changed the postcard to be just a voter registration card. Signing a postcard with private information is not necessary. Unfortunately, they included an insert in the mailer still requesting your signature by Oct. 1, and many of you received the mailer on Oct. 2. That was a mistake, and I am sorry it caused so much frustration and confusion.”

Hoen stressed that voters do not need to do anything other than vote.

“You don’t need to bring the registration card to vote,” he said. “You will be receiving your information guide and mail ballot shortly, and in-person early voting begins on Saturday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Nov. 1, ending up with Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.”

For information visit, https://www.carson.org/government/departments-a-f/clerk-recorder/elections-department.

In other action:

• Supervisors unanimously approved reappointing Karl G. Hutter for a second term on the Airport Authority for four years. They also approved appointing Michaela Flint to a new four-year term on the same board.

Flint is a flight instructor who uses the airport daily, she said during an interview with supervisors. When asked about pros and cons at the airport, Flint said the airport is inclusive of different kinds of aircraft and operations but is small. She maintained the more people the city can attract to the airport, the better it will be.

Shortly after the appointments, supervisors unanimously approved a business impact statement and the first reading of an ordinance revising Carson City Municipal Code Title 19 to allow the Airport Authority to impose a new fee on adjacent hangar associations for through-the-fence access, known as TTF in which private adjacent operators have access to the airport’s taxiway and runway system.

Such a fee, estimated to generate $98,000 a year and pay for secure access, would not affect airport tenants or other TTF operators, just common-interest communities like hangar associations. The ordinance introduced Thursday would also require liability insurance for operational aircraft based at the airport and would revise other provisions related to TTF access.

“The existing through-the-fence is highly regulated so that we’re able to meet the requirements of the FAA compliance manual and continue to receive federal funding for the airport,” said Corey Jenkins, airport manager. “The changes to Title 19 are to expand what’s allowed for through-the-fence, from what’s allowed today, to allow for future development especially on land that is east of the airport, where through-the-fence has not been possible before.”

John Griffin, representing Carson Tahoe Executive LLC, and Bruce Carrade, project manager for the same group, told the Appeal they’re developing a TFF hangar association east of the airport. They hope to break ground within the next year and a half depending on regulatory approvals. The project, they said, will include 30 hangars and 3,500 square feet of offices.

“I think this is a super exciting project, and I think we have been working on this for a few years,” Mayor Lori Bagwell said during the hearing, “and I think we’ve really come to something good for Carson City, a good compromise, a good activity, and I really look forward to the airport really having an economic opportunity, right? I think this is a fantastic way to bring business to that area, to utilize the airport, and so I’m super excited to see what this brings.”

• Supervisors unanimously approved the first reading of two ordinances updating Title 18 dealing with zoning and the Title 18 appendix containing the city’s development standards.

The update arose from a years-long process between the District Attorney’s Office, Community Development and various board meetings to make zoning and development code clearer and consistent.

“I know when I speak about clerical, technical revisions to the code, a lot of times that elicits some groans and moans and people just sort of kind of glaze over,” said Assistant DA Dan Yu. “I know that even when I’m making these changes and drafting them myself, it’s hard to stay awake at all times because it can get very mundane, it can get very tedious. But as Jason (DA Jason Woodbury) pointed out, it’s also super critical. It’s important because a change in a comma or semicolon can make all the difference in what that provision is intended to convey or to mean, to prohibit or to require.”

Yu said substantive changes, policy changes, were directed by supervisors and planning commissioners and that he did his best to capture their intent. Community Development Director Hope Sullivan described Title 18 as “the rules of the game” for development.

Some notable rules did change in the revision process and were discussed Thursday. In the development standards, for example, a guest building became an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) with certain lot, size and setback requirements but no longer any tenancy requirements restricting the dwelling to family members. Even a proposed requirement for the property owner to live on-site was nixed by supervisors, meaning ADUs can be built and rented without a deed restriction.

Sullivan told supervisors there were approximately 18 ADUs built in the last five years in the city. Supervisors discussed the pros and cons of the change, including whether ADUs would affect property values, the difficultly of enforcing any occupancy or tenant requirement, and if too many of the structures could put a strain on infrastructure.

Regarding the latter issue, supervisors agreed on a provision letting the Public Works Director reject an ADU application if there is not enough water or sewer capacity in the subject area.

“I think it’s a big difference in the role of accessory dwelling units in town,” Sullivan told the Appeal after the hearing.

Another proposed change in the development standards, after Supervisor Maurice White argued for property rights and fairness between neighborhoods, was allowing one metal storage container, aka a CONEX box, on a residential lot half an acre or bigger. Supervisors agreed to allow the boxes in more areas but with setback requirements and other restrictions. And such containers are limited to storage purposes, meaning no one can live inside them.

Ordinances must receive two public readings before adoption.