WINNEMUCCA — The Winnemucca City Council voted against allowing the project planner for the proposed Sonoma Ridge subdivision to shrink the width of the proposed street addition a wee bit.  The vote was Dec. 13.

The city labeled the street a collector street and for that reason required it to be 50-feet in width, which is the Master Plan standard.

A collector street is one in which many smaller side streets empties into.  While there are no side streets connected at this time, the area is surrounded by property with the potential for development and the street may see a large volume of traffic in the future.

The multi-million dollar project is planned as an extension to Offenhauser (see illustration) with 32 lots.  The homes being planned for the neighborhood were described as affordable and ideal for working families with homes in the $200,000 range.

John Krmpotic, president of KLS Planning and Design, met with the council twice in an attempt to reduce the width from the required 50-feet to 42-feet.  He did not disagree the street would function as a collector street, but he felt strongly it could act as a collector street at 42-feet in width.

Krmpotic presented the concept he was attempting to see into reality:  a cozy neighborhood with nice houses and a canopy of trees lining the street with sidewalks on both sides.    However, increasing the width of the street by eight feet would mean losing the canopy of trees.

City Manager Steve West pointed out the city standard for collector streets was 50 feet in width, and there were no exceptions.  The old Offenhauser Drive is 42-feet but, as West noted, the street was constructed before the city’s standard was in place.

West said the city’s obligation to was look at development in the long-term. Someday, he said, there may be a large volume of traffic on the proposed street and city had to consider the flow of traffic to the main arteries of traffic flow.

Additionally, he said the city had to consider the size of the proposed lots.

The lots for the proposed Sonoma Ridge subdivision are smaller than the lots in the subdivisions around it.

Pointing to the developments in the Offenhauser area, West noted the smaller lots usually resulted in people parking their cars on the street, which created a congested area that was a safety issue.

Councilman Paige Brooks, who also lives in the area, countered in her experience wider streets just resulted in people driving faster – a larger public safety concern.

For his part, Councilman Doug Cain, a member of the Winnemucca Volunteer Fire Department, pointed out narrower streets presented a problem during emergencies when neighborhoods were being evacuated at the same time emergency personnel were attempting to access the area.

During the second meeting between Krmpotic and the City Council, the planner brought photos from Reno and Las Vegas showing cozy developments with smaller lot sizes, narrower streets, and many times the vehicle volume the proposed Sonoma Ridge subdivision would see.  The photos reflected the point he was making: not only was there nothing unusual about his design, but in fact it’s common.

As Councilman Brooks previously noted, wider streets usually results in people driving faster and Krmpotic argued within the planning industry it was accepted that narrower streets were actually safer because they’re slower streets.

Councilman Rich Stone, who opposed making the street narrower, noted the city had already given the project a waiver for smaller lots, compared to other lot sizes in the area, and wasn’t requiring him to construct the back road, resulting in another half-street in the city.

He said, “We given you the opportunity to recoup your money.”

Later Krmpotic addressed that issue and said, “If you think it’s about a cost agenda, whatever the cost is I would accept the condition and put it in a community fund. It’s not about cost, it’s about selling the right neighborhood.”

Ultimately, members of the Council refused to budge.  They voted 4-1 to decline the 50-foot waiver with Brooks voting against.

Krmpotic said the project was moving forward with planned subdivision improvements planned for the near future.  Best-case scenario, if the weather cooperates, the developer could break ground as soon as spring 2012.