Spanish Springs project set to begin

Infrastructure on the Kiley Ranch North project is scheduled to begin this winter, weather permitting.

The project, which began winding its way through planning and permit processes two years ago, is a master-planned community in Spanish Springs Valley.

With 808 acres located near the intersection of Pyramid Lake Highway and Sparks Blvd., Kiley Ranch North is part of what once was a 2,000-acre family ranch.

Part of the ranch has already been sold into development, and those sales helped provide seed money for the Kiley Ranch North development, says Paul Curtis, general manager for Kiley Ranch Communities and president of Ryten Properties, LLC.

Kiley Ranch North plans to build a suburban core for the northern Sparks area, an area with its own economic sustainability.

It will be a township of sorts.

Included in the plans are up to 11 million square feet of office, retail and residential space, with about 40 percent of it dedicated to residential, 27 percent to commercial and business park, and 24 percent to public facilities, trails, and the like.

Also included in the plan, along with single- family residences, is high-density housing such as townhouses and condo-style dwellings.

The City of Sparks expects to see some pushback on the density, according to Randy Mellinger, assistant city manager.

"People think that low density means less traffic," he says,"but the opposite is true."

Low density leads to "sprawl," he says.A project like Kiley Ranch North requires less land and also brings in new industrial centers of work, so it has the potential of reducing traffic congestion along major arteries."We need job centers throughout the region," he says, which is one of the reasons he supports the Kiley Ranch North project and often negotiates with developers for added commercial and industrial enhancements.

The timeline on the project is approximately 14 years, according to Curtis.

Expectations are that while this winter's work on the infrastructure takes place, builders will be signing on for the first phases of the project.

First to be developed are the southern, residential sections, areas that are slated for single- family houses, townhomes, and condostyle dwellings.

The master-plan design, which is "Main Street America," says Curtis, is intended to "create a sense of place," a sensibility that he says he sees as missing in many developments.

Designers will be using the Kiley family and the agricultural history of the area as a key component of the community's roots.

The theme will be woven through parks and street signs, as well as along a stretch of linear park planned to follow the Orr ditch that currently crosses the property.

Matthew Kiley, one of the Kiley family members involved in the development, is most excited about the schools and parks included in the plans.

He's intending to stay with the development, he says, and be there to help watch over the succession of builders as the community is developed.