On October 17, 2025, the Sparks City Council held a public hearing to consider a development agreement with the Reno Housing Authority for an affordable housing project at 2026 I Street. The meeting, facilitated by Administrative Analyst Casey Chopin, focused on a 0.207-acre site acquired via state Home Means Nevada Initiative funds. The Council unanimously approved the agreement, which mandates the development of at least 12 affordable units serving households earning 60% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) for a 30-year affordability period.
Two consideration discussion and possible action on a development agreement between the city of Sparks and the Housing Authority of the City of Reno for a zero point two zero seven acre site located at two oh two six I Street, Sparks, Nevada, APN 031, 1840 for possible action. I am Casey Chopin, administrative analyst with your community services department, and I'm subbing in tonight for Amy Jones, our housing specialist on the development agreement with the Reno Housing Authority to develop an affordable housing project at 2026 I Street. You can see the project location outlined in red on the map overhead. And as stated, the site is just or approximately 0.2 acres in size and located just east of Sullivan Lane. This site is located within a neighborhood that has a mixture of single family and multifamily housing units. Additionally, it is located within the city of Sparks' mixed use district with access to grocery stores, restaurants, shopping, parks, recreation, and health care within a mile of the site. Additionally, within a half mile, it's located next to a bus stop. The property located at 2026 Ice Street was acquired through the Home Means Nevada Initiative. This initiative was established by former Nevada Governor Syslac with 500 million from the State American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA funds, with the goal of furthering development for affordable housing throughout the state. The city was awarded approximately 2.8 million dollars through this funding for land acquisition, with the requirement that the land be utilized for the development of affordable housing, that and that this affordable housing serves households that are earning less than 60% of the area median income, and that the project has an affordability period of a minimum of 30 years. So utilizing these funds, the city of Sparks purchased the property at 2026 I Street in February of 2024. Subsequently, the city issued a request for proposal where we received one submission through the Reno Housing Authority. And in April of 2025, the City Council selected that proposal to develop affordable housing at this site. The Reno Housing Authority's conceptual project included 12 units of a mixture of studio and one bedroom apartments. These units will be served were proposed to serve 50% of the area median income or below, and each of the units would have a project-based voucher on it. As a reminder, the project based vouchers are a subsidy which allow the households to pay only 30% of what their household income is in the rent, and the remainder of what that market rent or the rent would be would be paid for by the Reno Housing Authority. The Reno Housing Authority has recently completed two infill projects of a similar size to the I Street parcel, Rail Yard Flats, which is located on 10th Street in Sparks, and then the Dick Scott Manor, which is pictured on the slide above. The proposed development agreement between the City of Sparks and the Reno Housing Authority provides an overarching foundation for the development of the subject site as affordable housing while still maintaining the Home Means Nevada Initiative funding requirements. On this slide, it lists out the key points of the development agreement, which includes that the site must be developed with a minimum of 12 dwelling units. The term length of this development agreement is rather short, with it being five years with a two-year extension option, just maybe shorter than other development agreements that you've seen. Timeliness provisions require that the Reno Housing Authority submit an administrative review within two years of the development agreement and a building permit within four years. Affordable housing provisions require that all households that are served be earning less than 60% of the area median income, and that the site be remain affordable for a 50-year period. Additionally, the DA outlines other the other agreements that must be in place for this project to move forward, including an assignment and assumption agreement, which assigns the obligations of the city through the HMI agreement to the Reno Housing Authority, and a declaration of restrictive covenants running with the land. And finally, additional provisions require that the property be reconveyed to the city if the project is not completed, is not constructed, is partially constructed or is abandoned. Moving on to findings, a development agreement has a single finding of being consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. The city staff does believe that this development agreement would meet that finding as it supports goals or goal MG4 and policy MG11 that promote infill development. The subject site is located in the city's mixed use district and therefore has access to transit services, employment opportunities, and health care and recreation. Additionally, staff reviews or views the agreement as consistent with the comprehensive plan because it outlines that the subject site will be transferred to the developer at no cost with the purpose of constructing affordable housing units, advancing goal H1 and policies H2 and H7. Pursuant to the agreement, the a minimum of 12 new units of affordable housing will serve households earning 60% of the area median or households that earn 60% of the area median income or below. With that, my presentation is concluded, but I'm happy to answer any questions you have, and there's a recommended motion on the screen. And Nestor from the Reno Housing Authority is here to answer any questions that you may have from them. Thank you. Commissioners, do you have any questions? No. And uh from either one. Yeah. Okay. And so uh thank you. No questions. Um, and so we do we have somebody out of speaking. Oh would you like to speak, sir? No, does you guys actually have a question? Okay, all right, thank you. Uh thank you. Um, do we have a motion? This is a public. Oh, it's a public hearing. So sorry. Is there are there any uh anybody from the public who would like to um to speak? Seeing none.