At the fourth hearing on the same piece of property, (three before the Humboldt County Regional Planning Commission and one before the Winnemucca Council) the planning commissioners unanimously recommended denial for a requested zone change.
John Krompotic of KLS Planning and Design, on behalf of property-owner Patrick Morrissey, has been trying to get master plan and zoning changes required for a planned 212-lot housing development on 83.51 acres east of the new Offenhauser Drive extension and south of Stewart Street.
At the first hearing, the planning commission continued the item because they were split three to three on the requested zone change to 9,000 square foot lot sizes. Their second hearing, they also split three to three.
The final decision went to the City Council, which made no decision because city attorney Kent Maher said the master plan change occasioned by the city's annexation of the property had never been done and the developer would need to go back to the planning commission with a master plan amendment request before further consideration.
The third time around, the planning commission, after about an hour's discussion, finally approved the change from the county medium density residential master plan designation to the city's medium density residential master plan designation. However, they recommended denial of the zone change that would have allowed 9,000 square foot lots.
Planning commissioners said they would have considered recommending approval of 9,000 square foot zoning for the center area of the property, as long as larger-lot zoning was around the outside of the land to provide a buffer between the smaller lots and adjoining property owners' larger lots.
Krompotic said he and the owner felt that was overly restrictive. He pointed out the outside lots in the conceptual plan would be about 13,000 to 21,000 square feet but said that because of the geometry of development, the 9,000 square foot zoning designation would work much better for them.
Planning commissioners wondered what would happen if the development as envisioned didn't take place and the land was eventually sold with the 9,000 square foot lot zoning. A new developer could come in with a different plan, utilizing all 9,000 square foot lots - which they said would not provide any buffer between adjacent large lots and the smaller-lot development.
Martha and Robert Dolan live adjacent to the proposed development on 41 acres and were opposed to the zone change.
Krompotic said he and Morrissey felt market analysis supported development of smaller lots to provide an opportunity for people to have homes in this desired area but not have such large lots to deal with. Krompotic showed a photo of a half-acre lot with a home, but no landscaping - covered with weeds and debris and noted large lots are not for everyone.
Planning commission members agreed with senior planning staff Betty Lawrence's conclusion the zone change should be recommended for denial. The City Council makes the final decision.[[In-content Ad]]
