ELKO — Elko City Council updated the city’s master plan after listening for almost two hours to objections raised by an ad-hoc neighborhood group on the controversial land use changes.
The area in question — property along Mountain City Highway stretching between El Armuth and Sundance drives — was reclassified from high-density and low-density residential to commercial.
The change came after months of debate on the land use classification. The neighborhood group — composed of county residents — voiced its objections to the changes during three Elko City Planning Commission meetings this year and also during Tuesday’s meeting.
Elko City Manager Curtis Calder said the people in the group told council not to change the map because the change wasn’t compatible with the existing use of agricultural/residential. They repeated the same objections heard during planning commission meetings, Calder said.
The change in the master plan will not change the zoning for the 16 acre-county property owned by Helen K. Harris, according to Elko City Planner Dennis Crooks. However, the owner has applied for annexation and a zoning change.
|
Advertisement
|
Related news stories/websites.
|
Elko Councilman Glen Guttry said during a phone call after the meeting “there was no reason not to” pass the resolution to change the plan.
“It’s right on Mountain City Highway,” Guttry said. “It makes no sense to put residential on a highway.”
Elko Councilman Jim Conner said he voted for the change because the master plan shows what kind of services the land can support.
“I feel for the people,” Conner said. “I think they can work up a buffer zone. Commercial is usually a very good neighbor, but this is just a master plan. It’s not concrete that it’s (commercial) going in. It could end up being apartments or single-family homes.”
Archives
Flagview Delay: Old junior high will sit idle for year, if new school is ready