Upcoming City Council to Discuss New Housing Tract 350, and More

UPDATE: As of last night's City Council meeting the Diamond Ridge housing subdivision map was conditionally approved (4-1) based upon transportation concerns for residents in the area as well as that a study be completed on asbestos in the area. Also the Tract 350 subdivision Resolution 7480 failed 3-2 with the idea that potentially a new RFP (Request For Proposal) be made to have another, or the same developer take another try at the layout of homes in that area. Also of interest was definitely the presentation given by a representative from the SNWA. You can watch the entire City Council meeting from July 12th, 2022 at this link HERE. (Key time markers: SNWA at 1:48:, Diamond Ridge, 2:40, and Tract 350 at 4:04).

This Tuesday, July 12^th the City Council meeting will have a number of different topics and presentations that we thought people might be interested in and wish to know about in advance.

Water Conservation

First, there will be a presentation by a representative from the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) who will be sharing new water-saving policies that are or will be implemented throughout the valley.  If you cannot attend you can see the slides from that from the Agenda Packet HERE, starting on page 83.

Diamond Ridge

Also of note is one of two new proposed housing subdivisions. Item number seven on the agenda is for Diamond Ridge, a single-family development that was originally approved back in 2016. However, the builder had four years to submit the final map for approval and begin the project, but did not do that within that time period. So now it goes back up again for approval.

A map of the location is shown for you below:

You can view all the information in the packet beginning on page 123, HERE. The project is for 15 total lots (homes) and is zoned R1-10, so all lots are 10,000 sq. ft. or more. Located off Wyoming and Avenue M this project was recently re-approved by the Planning Commission on a 6-1 vote and now goes before City Council.

When you view the packet, you’ll see that there are some concerns that have been raised by residents close by the area about the rock barrier walls that will need to be constructed. Some residents are concerned about the size of the rock wall and also in the packet are the data presentations regarding the naturally occurring asbestos we know exists in and around Boulder City.

Tract 350

Lastly of import will be a revised proposal for the highly talked about ‘Tract 350’ housing area out near the Boulder Creek Golf Course. There has been a lot of talk and confusion about certain aspects of this project so let’s revisit the history a bit if we may. Again, to help you out head to the Agenda Packet, pg. 361, HERE.

Back in 2010 voters in Boulder City approved the sale of this land for the purpose of building homes around the Boulder Creek course and that the revenue would be used for capital expenditures for safety and to pay down the Boulder Creek Golf Course revenue bonds. A copy of that original Ballot Question can be viewed at this link, HERE.

Then in 2015, the City adjusted the zoning for that property to R1-7, R1-10 and R1-15. The following year in 2016 the city put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) – and received nothing back. Crickets folks – no one wanted to play with us on that property back then, it appears.

Move forward now to last year. In July of 2021, the City Council at that time decided to revisit the project and put out another RFP to see if there would be any interest and also passed a measure to state that any funds that would be received would be put toward a new city pool.

Sure enough in November 2021, three companies responded to the RPF.

At the November 30 City Council meeting Toll Brothers was the plan of the three that was recommended by City staff and was what the City Council also approved. However, in March due to some social media posts and general uproar about the smaller lot sizes, R1-5 and R1-7 that were a part of that original plan, the folks at Toll Brothers held a community meeting at the Boulder City Library to hear resident feedback.

Guess that turned out to be a good idea on their part. As of now what goes before Council on Tuesday night will be a revised plan, they are calling Toll Brothers #3. This plan includes only R1-7 zoning which means minimum lot sizes will now be 7,000 sq. ft. and drops the number of lots down from 185 to 156. This plan seems to be more in line with what residents were wanting for this housing area. If approved by Council the measure would repeal the original Resolution 7368 and the new Resolution 7480 would replace that. If you want to do your own deep dive on all of this documentation, the City has a page up on their site all about Tract 350 HERE.

What we will all do now is watch with interest to see what feedback the Council gets from the general public, and what they decide. If you’ve got an opinion on any of these items, be sure to have the facts and make your voices heard.