Due to the holiday weekend, the Washoe County Incline Village Crystal Bay Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) was held on Tuesday, September 6th. A summary of the meeting follows:
1. County Manager Eric Brown attended the CAB meeting to solicit input from the community on the new CAB format and the development HUB website.
The CAB members and public in attendance (via Zoom) gave input as to the aspects of the new CAB format which they liked and made several suggestions for additional changes.
The following aspects were found to be positive by the CAB members and public:
(1)Â Under the new/current CAB format, various government entities have been presenting information on many issues that impact Incline Village/Crystal Bay. This has allowed the community to provide input and has been appreciated.Â
(2)Â The CAB has been allowed to set its own agendas. This too has been appreciated.
(3)Â The development HUB interface is very helpful and provides good information, although suggestions were made to make the HUB easier to use.Â
(4) One concern expressed was that the county’s mailed notices of Neighborhood Meetings are only sent to parcels within 750 feet of a project, per the NRS. The community was advised at the meeting that we can sign up for District 1 notices on the county website, and receive an email advising of ALL Neighborhood Meetings scheduled in District 1, the district for Incline Village/Crystal Bay.
The following suggestions were made for further changes to the CAB meetings:
(1) The IVCB community would like to have development projects come before the CAB allowing the CAB the ability to make recommendations on projects to the Washoe County Planning Commission, the Planning Staff, and other governmental agencies, as it did previously. It was also expressed that under the current rules, the developers voluntarily come to the CAB very late in the process, after most development decisions have been made. Examples of recent concerns were (i) the proposed amendment to the Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan to address a zoning problem on the 947 Tahoe Blvd. Condominium project, which if approved, would allow construction of residential units anywhere in the commercial area, and set a precedent for others around the basin, and (ii) attendees expressed concerns regarding the recent Evacuation, Sheltering and Mass Care Plan. Attendees expressed concerns regarding the number of persons identified in the report to be evacuated. The evacuation population used in the report was LESS THAN the 2010 and even higher 2020 census numbers and didn’t include visitors/tourists including short term renters, college students, part-time residents, and the business working populations.
(2) The IVCB community would like to receive notice of hearing dates on important hearings/meetings which impact IVCB residents from Washoe County, TRPA, and the TTD where county personnel know of the anticipated hearing dates; three days’ notice is not sufficient for our community to learn, research, and provide real input to the governmental entities. The notice of the hearing dates could be tentative, and could be made available through the CABs.Â
(3) It would be appreciated if power point presentations could be available on the CAB website before the CAB meetings so that the attendees could review them in advance. It would also be appreciated if the power points that are not available before the presentations, could later be posted on the CAB website.
(4) The question was raised as to whether the IVCB CAB could meet in person. County Manager Brown responded that that is up to the CAB Chair. This is intended to be topic for discussion at the October meeting.
2. Washoe County has hired Amy Cummings, Statewide Transportation Planning Manager of Parametrix, to prepare a transportation study for Incline Village and Crystal Bay. Amy made a presentation of several issues of concern that she has observed to date and outlined in her power point presentation. She asked for input from the community and the CAB members on the presentation at the meeting. Amy has requested that anyone who has input on the issues raised, including the potential solutions under each of the issues, send her an email with their thoughts. There will be a public meeting in Incline Village in October, but any input she receives earlier from the community can potentially be included in the public presentation. Amy’s email address is ACummings@parametrix.com.
3. Dave Solaro, Assistant County Manager presented Washoe County’s traffic calming policy and how it operates with speed controls and signage, and discussed several other traffic safety issues. There was a discussion of traffic safety in IVCB by the public. The county has provided a website for residents to report issues related to parking, speeding and other concerns. This can be found on the Resources tab of our website and can be accessed by clicking here.
3. Attendees, as well as CAB members, mentioned a number of topics of interest to the community for the future including (i) the proposed Amendment to the Tahoe Area Plan for the 947 Tahoe Blvd project, (ii) e-bikes and their use on multiuse paths, and (iii) the Washoe County Evacuation, Sheltering and Mass Care Plan. All of these topics are being considered for November/December/January CAB meetings. The October CAB meeting will include a panel on winter preparedness, and include a segment on generator requirements. The detailed minutes of each CAB meeting are found on the CAB website for viewing. The minutes are much more detailed than the above summary.