No, the revised application submitted on July 7th no longer includes all 155 acres of the Lakeridge Golf Course. Duncan Golf seeks to rezone a 12.5-acre site that includes 6.5 acres of the former driving range. If their application for SPD zoning and SMU land use is approved, Duncan will file a survey map to create a separate 12.5-acre parcel that will be assigned a new Assessors Parcel Number and will be a separate parcel.

In the original application their request was only a Zoning Map Amendment from PGOS to SPD for the entire golf course. There was no request for a Master Plan Amendment. The revised application requests both a Zoning Map Amendment from PGOS to SPD for 12.5 acres and a Master Plan Amendment from PGOS to Suburban Mixed Use (SMU). With direction from City staff, the application  will conform to the proposed Master Plan designation of SMU, which supports a mix of commercial and residential uses. The applicant asserts that a 100-room hotel, spa, outdoor events venue, restaurants, bars, and sport courts are consistent with the established residential neighborhoods that surround the 12.5 acres site. 

No. The application states, “actual building size, configuration, and location will be determined at the time of application submission for future building permits or land use entitlements.” In the revised application there are a two images that offer the “look and feel” of the conceptual hotel and villas, however, the hotel image depict only a  3 story hotel. The applicant’s proposed hotel is 4 stories and 55 feet in height (technically equivalent to 5 stories). The applicant provided no cross-section through the site illustrating residential building elevations in relation to proposed building elevations. It is our view that the absence of this is because the visual impact would be so powerful and unwelcome and not serve their objective. 

1. The amended application still lists an outdoor events area. Mr. Duncan specifically stated when asked at his Lakeridge community meeting held at the golf club on July 8th that all events would be held indoors. 

2. There is a request by Duncan to approve a SPD Handbook without any details on the building configuration, orientation, architectural style, and location without public input.  Furthermore, the applicant is entitled to move uses around and add uses, add hotel rooms, add hotel villas, add pickleball courts, etc. and make any changes they want to as long as the “10% threshold is not exceeded”. Any modification of the development could be completely reconfigured. Residents have ZERO input into any aspect of the development plan and without knowledge of how it will affect them. 

3. The application now includes a “30-foot PGOS buffer along the west and southern boundaries to further limit potential impacts…” However, this buffer area is just a road that winds around the project area insulating the proposed development. Adjacent residents will then look at the road from their backyards while the hotel guests do not. The roadways on the edges of development will include light poles that illuminate the road and parking areas directly adjacent to existing residents. Any semblance of a dark sky as viewed from adjacent residential areas will be eliminated.

This is an important addition to the amended application of the SPD handbook. It states the following: “If development does not occur or an application to extend the development schedule beyond 10 years is not received…the site would revert to adherence to all standards of the underlying zoning designation at that time.”  This means the property would revert back to an underlying zoning designation that is consistent with the Master Plan designation of Suburban Mixed Use. A review of Title 18 determined that the comparable zoning is Mixed Use Suburban (MU). Mixed Use Suburban technically has no maximum height. However, staff can require a site plan review for all buildings proposed over 55” in height.

As defined within the Reimagine RenoMaster Plan, “SMU represents a shift from traditional suburban sprawl towards more sustainable, walkable, and community-oriented development that integrates a variety of uses to create vibrant and efficient neighborhoods.” The following are allowed uses under SMU and these uses would create more traffic, noise and forever change the Lakeridge neighborhood. 

• Residential: Single-family and multi-family dwellings, including apartments and townhouses, are generally permitted. 

• Commercial: Hotels (with casinos), retail shops,  restaurants, offices and professional services, personal services, recreation facilities (live entertainment), and other businesses (gas station, car wash) can be located within the mixed-use area. 

• Public/Institutional Uses: Library, Schools (Primary, Secondary, Adult), Government facilities, Healthcare facilities., 

• Industrial: Manufacturing and processing facilities (e.g., cannabis, bakery, food) of light industrial may be allowed. 

Now is the time to act. Ask the appointed Planning Commissioners and Elected City Council members to vote NO on this application.

Please make it a priority to be part of the fight to Save Lakeridge by writing letters, making calls, and, most importantly, providing testimony at the Planning Commission hearing tentatively scheduled for early September.

Reference Zoning Map Amendment LDC25-00061 in all communications. 

1. Write the Planning Commissioners now! RenoPlanningCommission@reno.gov. Letters can be mailed to: 

   City Of Reno Planning Commission, P.O.Box 1900, Reno, NV 89505.

2. Contact all of the City Council members!

3. Attend the Planning Commission meeting. Date TBD. Stay tuned here for more information. Make public comment to get your position on the matter on the record. The meeting is at Reno City Hall – 1 East First St. Arrive early to ensure you get a seat in the City Council Chamber. If you plan to speak, you must submit a “request to speak” form to the staff liaison. These forms are on hand so simply request one to write your name. Your name will be called and you will have 3 minutes to provide comment that will become part of the case records.

4. Sign up for Save Lakeridge updates!

5. Donate to support the Save Lakeridge campaign.

Save Lakeridge is a coalition of residents, neighbors, friends, and golfers who are volunteering their time to ensure safety and preserve the community. Save Lakeridge is for everyone interested in preserving the open space that is the Lakeridge Golf Course. This website is the effort of Save Lakeridge LLC which supports Save Lakeridge’s efforts to ensure safety and preserve the community. The content on this site is meant to inform and engage the public and is prepared by members of the community. While we do our best to keep things accurate and up to date, we can’t guarantee everything is perfect as we are not experts in Municipal Planning and Zoning. We thank you for your support!

Duncan Golf Management owns and operates several area golf courses, including Lakeridge, Toiyabe, Eagle Valley, and Wolf Run in Northern Nevada and the Winchester Country Club course in Placer County, California. The Duncans purchased Lakeridge Golf course in 2013. The Duncan family is not a developer; they buy and manage golf courses that offer only clubhouses and restaurants. 

On July 7, 2005, Duncan Golf submitted a revision to their application LDC25-00061 which now requests a Zoning Map Amendment from PGOS to SPD for 12.5 acres of the 155 acre Lakeridge golf course. Included in the revised application is a request for a Master Plan Amendment from PGOS to Suburban Mixed Use (SMU).

There is no change to the Conceptual Plan to build a 100-room four story hotel, a spa, villas and amenities such as tennis courts, pickleball court, swimming pool, indoor and outdoor venue space, and a garden. 

Comments from TJ Duncan, vice president of Duncan Golf Management, about the proposed Lakeridge Resort said there is no dollar amount for the project at this time and the timeframe is 7-10 years.

Duncan Golf closed the 6.5-acre driving range in 2021 after it sold land to Lakeridge Place LLC (aka Toll Brothers) to build 38 townhomes at the ridge atop the driving range. The Toll Brothers property has a Restrictive Covenant that no longer allowed the driving range to be used as a driving range with golfers hitting balls towards the residential homes. Duncan Golf chose not to utilize the closed driving range to provide the golfers with other amenities such as a putting green or a chipping green, to name a few, rendering it “underutilized”.

The golf course was rezoned in 2005 at the behest of the City of Reno City Council to Parks Greenways Open Space (PGOS) to align with the City’s Comprehensive Master Plan. Alignment of underlying zoning and master plan designations has been a goal of the city since 1999. Nothing has changed in our community to warrant a re-zoning now to Specific Planning District.

A 2005 staff report about the decision to zone the course PGOS cited the city “desired a more comprehensive approach to regulating golf courses that involves situating golf courses within a zoning district that corresponds in purpose and intent to golf course characteristics.” See the background section for more information about the historic zoning and City Council’s actions to rezone it to PGOS from SF15. 

Specific Planning Districts (SPD) grant extreme flexibility to the property owner to pursue its current aspirations for the moment with land uses, heights, densities, etc. all incorporated into a handbook. Handbooks are frequently modified to respond to market conditions. SPD, for example, allows blank slate for mixed-use infill development with residential densities higher than Lakeridge’s current surrounding single family density, as well as commercial, offices, and/or retail.

Yes, zoning remains with the land, so a sale from Duncan to another entity, including a developer, would enable the new owner to modify the SPD Handbook and request an entirely different project from the “hotel and spa” Duncan is proposing today. 

Yes, it is part of the Master Planned Community approved by the Reno City Council and constructed in 1969. As part of the Master Planned Community design and in exchange for the allowable residential density, a certain percentage of open space was required. The golf course fulfills the original open space requirement and became the glue which holds the various neighborhoods together and provides for the important firebreaks between developments. The City of Reno is required by its Reimagine Reno Master Plan to provide open space areas in conjunction with new development. These open spaces help ensure a healthy community and reduce heat island effects.  The Lakeridge Golf Course open space is not only enjoyed by golfers for recreation, but appreciated and enjoyed by all Reno residents for its scenic beauty, mature trees, and the flora and fauna it supports. The vast open space is a respite in the center of our beloved Lakeridge community.