Smoke Screen?
What really is happening at Lakeridge?
The news outlets and online magazines like Northern Nevada Business Weekly are highlighting the amenities of the proposed hotel and spa to be built on the former driving range but there is no mention that the re-zoning application to SPD is for all 155 acres of the Lakeridge golf course, not just the 12 acres of the former driving range.
In all the press coverage, TJ Duncan states “We know how much this course means to Reno and I want to assure the community that the golf course will not undergo significant changes,” added Duncan. “Our focus will be on repurposing the driving range into more useful amenities.”
If this is the case, why is the application to rezone all 155 acres? If the golf course will not undergo significant changes, why are the other 3 parcels that are all separate APNs included in the application? There is no requirement in the City municipal code for SPD that requires Duncan Golf to include all 4 separate APNs of the golf course in the application.
SPD Zoning represents the wishes of the property owner (at the time) for land uses, heights, densities, etc. all incorporated into a handbook approved by the city. The SPD zoning is required for the hotel. However, zoning remains with the land so a sale to another entity would enable the new owner to modify the Specific Plan Handbook and request an entirely different project. If approved by City Council, the SPD zoning is then equivalent to a blank slate for mixed-use infill development with residential densities higher than the surrounding single family, and commercial, offices, and/or retail.
Aside from no mention by the Duncan family in their press coverage that they are seeking to rezone all 155 acres, there is only a conceptional plan in the application. There are no rendering of the proposed hotel and spa and only stock photos of the Lakeridge project website. There is no estimated budget for the project and TJ Duncan said in his interview with News2 that it could be 7-10 years for this development.
The proposed hotel/spa is possibly a smoke screen to distract the public from what really appears to be in play; zoning of all 155 acres to potentially allow anything to be developed on the entire golf course.