Planning Commission poised to give Osage a zoning makeover

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

"Osage needs a makeover. That's the commercial gateway to Nevada," Ron Clow, planning director, told members of the Nevada Planning Commission, during their monthly meeting Tuesday evening.

That part of town is changing to a more commercial area than the industrial area that it was in the past and it seems appropriate to look at changing the zoning of at least some of the property from manufacturing to commercial, Clow said.

He told the planning commission that during the city council's discussion of changing the zoning on property at 210 N. Osage from manufacturing to commercial so Rudy Horst could convert part of his business building into an apartment, they decided that they would like the planning commission to look at changing the zoning of all the property along Osage from manufacturing to commercial.

Beyond that Bill McGuire, city manager, told the council that he would like to update the city's entire comprehensive land use plan and would like to hire a planning firm to help the city with this process. He told the council that this would be a good economic development tool to attract new business to town as well as involve the entire community in the process.

"Obviously the land use plan is out of date," Tim Wells, city council representative on the planning commission, said.

"We do need to look at all areas. Some areas of Smelter Hill do need to be changed and some residential areas may need to be changed to commercial zoning," he said.

The Smelter Hill neighborhood is located in the extreme southeast part of Nevada west of Alma and north of Division streets. It got its name from the two ore smelters that were located in that area in the early 1900s. It has been a predominantly residential area for many years, however, in recent years there have been several new businesses locate in that area.

"The city council will depend heavily on the recommendations from the planning commission," Wells said.

Although it seems like it should be a quick and easy process to change the zoning on property, it is not, officials indicate, since it affects how property owners can use their land and to change the zoning on this scale will require updating the city's comprehensive land use plan that was originally written in 1984 and received a minor update in 2001.

Most of the property along Osage Boulevard is currently zoned M-1 and M-2, which are the least restrictive types of zoning. This zoning permits various kinds of industrial usage, as well as most types of commercial usage, although a few types of businesses, like recycling centers, require a special use permit. The only thing that is prohibited outright is residential usage, except on farms.

The property along Osage is not the only land in that part of Nevada that needs to be looked at, according to the Planning Commission.

Much of the area between Osage and Centennial boulevards and north of Austin Boulevard is currently zoned for industrial usage, with the exception of some pockets of residential zoning east of the railroad on Cherry, Walnut and Locust streets.

Clow told the planning commission that by looking at the land use in the entire city, it will prevent the property owners on Osage from thinking they are being targeted.

"It's not as easy as some think to change the zoning from M-1 or M-2 to C-3 which limits the usage of the property," Clow said.

"Our first step in considering a large scale change is to look at what each piece of property is being used for," he said. "Some of the businesses currently on Osage, like Pohl's cement plant, require manufacturing zoning and the railroad needs manufacturing as well."

There are also properties like former Steven's Recycling Center, located east of the railroad tracks on east Locust. Don Hutchison owns that property and he might not want the zoning changed from manufacturing to commercial.

"For some property owners the highest and best use for their property require industrial zoning and that will have to be taken into account," he said.

"In the case of vacant lots we cannot change the zoning just because it is not currently being used for industrial purposes," he said.

Clow said that in his opinion that would be "taking," because it would be depriving a property owner of his rights and could easily end up in court.

In response to a question from planning commission member Jeff Tweten, Clow said that the city council has the right to change the zoning on property without the consent of the property owners, although it is not usually a good idea.

"We will then need to hold a series of public hearings with a lot of angry property owners," Clow said.

"We need to invite people to public meetings so they won't feel that it's being rammed down their throats," he said.

"It is important for the people to know that we want public input," Wells said.

Clow told the commissioners that the city had interviewed one planning firm about helping with updating the land use plan and they have estimated that it will cost $50,000.

The city council has told the city manager that they want this included in the 2008 budget, he said.

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