Wildlife habitat and urban sprawl

Truckee Meadows could save $1.3 billion that would be spent to build miles of LA-style freeways and connectors to accommodate unneeded development sprawl.

That’s the tax-payer price tag for just one ill-advised development project -- Spring Mountain.

Leapfrog development far from the Reno/Sparks core will divert ever shrinking infrastructure dollars from the heart of the Truckee Meadows. Those dollars should be spent to shore up our existing, over-stressed infrastructure, not service a remote, high-end resort 25 miles from the metro area.

Another issue with regard to Spring Mountain that is every bit as important as the infrastructure issue, is saving our precious water supply for future generations.

By not approving the Spring Mountain development, we can:

Save an irreplaceable wildlife habitat and wilderness area.

Save a rural lifestyle and revitalize our urban cores.

We can save a precious and irreplaceable wildlife habitat and wilderness area.

Comprehensive care for natural resources is essential to future quality of life in northern Nevada. We should plan for and preserve recreational and wildlife spaces before rezoning land to high-density urban development.

A perfect example is the proposed Spring Mountain development, 25 miles north of Reno/Sparks.

Placing a city of 25,000 people in a pristine desert area creates fire risk which will put sage grouse, mule deer, antelope and mountain sheep habitat in jeopardy. If a developer were to buy 10 acres in the middle of a suburb zoned for 4 homes per acre, and then propose building a massive high-rise apartment complex housing 16,000 homes instead of the zoned 40, the entire neighborhood would be up in arms protesting against it, shouting concerns about the impact on traffic, police/fire facilities, schools, and noise/light pollution. Yet, that is essentially what is being proposed for the Spring Mountain development.

On acreage currently zoned for 1 home per 40 acres, developers are proposing areas that are 10 homes per acre – a 400-fold increase. They want to build a city of 25,000 residents in a rural area 25 miles from town. Yet the developers insist that this approach is more friendly toward the environment than 200 widely spaced rural ranches.

The Spring Mountain development sprawls across three different valleys and over 3000 acres. It could potentially destroy acres of wildlife habitats and migration paths in adjacent regions and could deplete critical water resources needed by wildlife in the area. We need to protect our wilderness areas for future generations, so they too can enjoy glorious night skies and freedom from the noise and air pollution of the city.