Planning Commission Meeting
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
What Happened
The Reno Planning Commission held a regular meeting on January 15, 2025, reviewing zoning changes, conditional use permits for two data center projects, and an outdoor storage facility permit.
Key Decisions
APPROVED — L&H Concrete outdoor storage facility on 6.69 acres at North Virginia Street (Ward 4) with stormwater treatment conditions — 6-0 — Allows concrete storage operations near residential zone.
APPROVED (recommendation to City Council) — Zoning map amendment at 900 Western Road from SF-3 to SF-8, allowing residential density increase from 3 to 8 units per acre on 0.83-acre site — 6-0 — Aligns property with adjacent zoning; enables future higher-density housing development pending tentative map approval.
APPROVED — Keystone Data Center conditional use permit for 3.26-acre downtown site at Keystone Avenue, operating 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. — 4-2 — Project uses zero water, includes solar panels, and contributes bike lane infrastructure. Commissioners Del Villar and Villanueva dissented, citing energy usage and lack of city-wide data center guidelines.
REJECTED — Oppidan 5MW Data Center conditional use permit for 7.02-acre site on North Virginia Street with evaporative cooling system — 4-2 — Commissioners cited water usage concerns (equivalent to two golf courses for a 60,000-square-foot building with eight employees) and questioned sustainability alignment with city Master Plan.
ELECTED — Commissioner Silvia Villanueva as Planning Commission Vice Chair — 6-0 — Organizational change.
Debated But Not Resolved
Data center cooling methods — Southern Nevada bans evaporative cooling systems; northern Nevada applicants proposed same method. No explanation provided for regional difference. — City Council to establish comprehensive data center guidelines before future approvals.
Finding "4" (public services and facilities) — Commissioners disagreed whether will-serve letters from utilities satisfy the requirement or whether long-term rate-payer impacts and resource availability assessments needed. Velto argued against requiring applicants to prove negative impacts; Villanueva argued PUC/NV Energy input essential. — City Council directed staff to prepare data center policy report for February or March 2025.
Planning Commission scope — Velto argued commissioners must apply existing code and make factual findings, not create policy. Rohrmeier and others countered commissioners have responsibility to consider Master Plan policies and broader community impacts. City Attorney Hall sided with Velto. — Ongoing philosophical disagreement about whether commission is advisory body or policy-maker.
Data center economic benefits — Drakulich cited $106 million in projected sales tax revenue; Rohrmeier questioned whether equipment sourced outside Reno means actual tax benefit to community. — Staff to provide EDAWN fiscal impact analysis at future workshop.
What to Watch
No spending items exceeding $50,000. The $106 million figure cited is a projection of future sales tax revenue from Keystone Data Center operations, not an approved expenditure.
City Council data center policy — Multiple commissioners recommended City Council establish comprehensive guidelines, evaluate potential moratorium, and conduct workshop with NV Energy before approving future data center applications. Decision pending February or March 2025.
900 Western Road zoning amendment — City Council must formally approve the SF-3 to SF-8 rezone. If future development exceeds four units per acre, tentative map review will provide neighbors opportunity to comment.
Keystone Data Center appeal — Project approved 4-2; dissenting commissioners may pursue City Council review before project moves to building permit stage.
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