The Board of County Commissioners held a workshop today (February 8, 2020) to discuss Lyon County Code Title 15 (Land Use and Development Code), 2010 Comprehensive Master Plan, 2020 Master Plan Update and the practices/processes of the Community Development Department.
The meeting was conducted virtually and was attended by staff, a handful of builders and developers and residents of Lyon County. This workshop was requested by Commissioner Jacobson, at the January 21, 2021 County Commission meeting, as he had heard a number of concerns from the construction & development community.
Commission Chair Vida Keller opened the meeting asking input from individual Board members. Commissioner Jacobson explained that he had heard a number of concerns about keeping lot sizes at 15,000 square feet and frustration over County processes. Commissioner Gray expressed concern over smaller lot sizes. Commissioner Hockaday voiced similar concerns and expressed that high density neighborhoods tend to bring more citizen conflict thus requiring more law enforcement. Commissioner Henderson explained that he was prepared to hear the concerns or issues.
The meeting was then open for public comment. Don Smit of Project One voiced concern over the issue of not wanting smaller lot sizes and he explained that he has a presentation for a later date. He also complained about not receiving notice of the meeting until this morning. Bill Miles of Miles Construction also voiced concerns about eliminating smaller lot sizes.
County Manager Jeff Page then explained that staff had met with the Chair and Vice Chair to discuss the usage of lot sizes from 4500 square feet to 2 acres. He explained that the desire is to have a clear understanding within the Master Plan what low, medium and high density looks like and where it will go. Page also addressed the issue of notice. He explained that he had sent an email to the building and development community on January 21, 2020. He expressed that if the builders and developers are going to do business in Lyon County that they should sign up for agenda notification from the County’s website.
The residents that gave comment voiced their issues with the smaller lot sizes and asked that they be notified of any proposed changes to Title 15. Page explained that the County underwent a 3.5 year process in creating Title 15 and that the document was vetted through both the Planning Commission and County Commission in open to the public meetings. Any changes to any County Code or Master Plan has to be vetted publicly.
The meeting ended with no additional information or direction for staff.