At the September meeting of the Spanish Springs Citizens Advisory Board, residents brought up their concerns when planners presented a potential new shopping center and business front on the corner of Calle De La Plata and Pyramid Highway.

Along with concerns about traffic, safety and quality of life, many residents complained that they did not receive a notice that the project would be discussed at the CAB meeting.

“I don’t have a problem with the corner commercial, I have a problem with the notification,” said Spanish Springs resident Ken Theiss at a September CAB meeting where the shopping center was discussed.

Washoe County requires that residents within 750 feet of a new project be notified about meetings taking place to discuss the project. However, residents near the proposed Village at the Peak shopping center project measure more than 750 feet from the site because of their properties’ large acreage.

“Noticing?” Spanish Springs resident Dan Herman said sternly at the meeting. “I didn’t get notice, did anyone in here get a notice?”

The answer was a chorus of “no’s.”

“That has been mentioned at public hearings a number of times,” said Roger Pelham, a senior planner with Washoe County. “The notices are always done to the minimum legal standards."

Pelham and Jim Rundle, a senior planner with the city of Sparks, said that all residents of both unincorporated Washoe County and the city are notified of meetings as legally required by the Nevada Revised Statues as well as by the city codes and county ordinances.

Rundle said the city limits extend north on Pyramid Highway and end at the intersection of La Posada. Everything north of La Posada and Eagle Canyon Drive in Spanish Springs is noticed by Washoe County.

“Every type of project application has minimum notification requirements,” Pelham said. Special-use permit applications require that residents within 500 feet of the project be noticed, he said, whereas other project applications have different requirements.

Pelham explained that in the case of the Village at the Green master plan amendment for the corner of Calle De La Plata and Pyramid Highway, the notification requirement is contained within Nevada Revised Statute chapter 278 as well as county development code ordinance section 110.818.

Both the NRS and the county ordinance state that residents within 750 feet of a master plan amendment must be notified that the project will be discussed at a meeting.

“The only required notice is the notice before the public meeting,” Pelham explained.

A "public meeting" is a planning commission meeting, county commission meeting or other government board meeting.

“We send out courtesy notices prior to CAB meetings,” Pelham said, adding that CAB notices are not required by law but the county informs residents anyway.

Pelham added that NRS 278 only requires a minimum of 30 residents within the 750 feet be noticed. He said that in the case of Spanish Springs, which has large open plots of land, a computer program is used to determine how many homes receive notices and within what distances.

Under county ordinance 110.820.23 (c) on comprehensive plan amendments: “If the number of notices sent pursuant to this section does not identify thirty (30) or more separate property owners, the County shall send out additional notices to achieve a total of at least thirty (30) separate property owners. These notices shall be sent to owners of real property that are closest to the property in question. ...”

According to Pelham, the county uses a geographical information systems (GIS) program to cross reference parcels with the county assessor's office. If the program does not find 30 residents to be sent notifications in the initial search, the county expands the notification range until 30 or more residents receive notifications.

“Sometimes people think 'This affects me, I should have received a notice,' but they’re 1,000 feet away when the type of application notice only needs to be 500 feet,” Pelham said.

Residents can keep themselves informed about project applications that are submitted to the county by going to the county’s Web site, Pelham said.

Residents can find that information by following these steps:

• Go to the Washoe County Web Site at www.washoecounty.us.

• On the right side of the screen, under the “Government” subhead click “Departments.”

• On the Washoe County Departments screen, click “Community Development.”

• On the Community Development page, on the left side is a link to 2009 development application submittals.

• The development application submittals page lists all applications submitted to Washoe County for review. It also lists the planner working with the application, the district it affects, the board that will hear the application and the date when notices were mailed to affected residents within the notification range.

Pelham said residents can use the Washoe County Web site to find the information they need to stay informed even if they do not received notices in the mail from the county on specific projects.

According to county ordinance section 110.818.20 through 110.820.20 on different reasons for notification, in addition to mailing notices about meetings Washoe County also places notices in the newspaper, stating: “A notice setting forth the date, time and place of the public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Washoe County not less than ten (10) days prior to the public hearing date.”

The newspaper notice must also clearly state what type of amendment is being heard or meeting is being held. Washoe County Planning Commission meetings are noticed in the newspaper, as well. Agendas can also be found online at www.washoecounty.us.

Sparks senior planner Rundle said the cities take similar actions to promote information residents might find important, such as projects, special-use permits and meeting agendas.

“Everything gets a different notice due to what type of project it is,” Rundle said, adding that because Sparks uses a two-map system -- a master plan map and a zoning map -- notifications differ each time.

“Master plan amendment changes (in Sparks) require the applicant for the proposed amendment to hold a neighborhood meeting and notice the neighbors within 750 feet of the site,” Rundle said.

Rundle said these types of notifications must be done by the applicant, whereas Washoe County handles the notification for their meetings. He added that the information on projects, meetings and other city business can be found on the city’s Web site, www.ci.sparks.nv.us.

“People can have e-mails sent to them with all the agendas,” Rundle said. “Those are always posted and they’re always posted on the Web site as well.”

Rundle said city of Sparks posts government meeting agendas, including City Council meetings and planning commission meetings, at places such as city hall, the police department, the Sparks Parks and Recreation building and other locations around the city.

“We meet the minimum noticing requirement,” Rundle said. “Minimum sounds like we’re being lazy but you can’t notice things too early either.”

Rundle said NRS 278 and city of Sparks municipal code set time requirements for notification including newspaper notices, mailed notices and meeting notices.

To be put on an e-mail or mailing list, Rundle said residents can call 353-2340.

For the complete NRS zoning and planning law, visit www.leg.state.nv.us/Nrs/NRS-278.html.

For more information about city of Sparks municipal code, visit www.ci.sparks.nv.us/governing/muni_code/.

For more information about Washoe County’s development code, visit www.washoecounty.us/comdev_files/dc/062309_washoe_county_development_code.pdf.