· A rezoning request by the NSHE Board of Regents is threatening the operation of Wolf Pack Meats and UNR’s Main Station Farm.
· The closing of Wolf Pack Meats would affect several local ranches that have their humanely raised cattle, pigs, and lamb processed by WPM, northern Nevada’s only USDA inspected meat processing facility.
· This would deprive citizens of Reno access to the meat from locally and humanely raised animals, which is sold at the Great Basin Community Food Coop.
· The Advisory Board of the UNR College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, & Natural Resources has sent a resolution to the Dean of the CABNR opposing the zoning change and endorsing the continuing operation of Wolf Pack Meats.
Please show your support by attending the Reno Planning Commission meeting tomorrow where the rezoning request will be discussed:
Wednesday, November 2 – 6 p.m. at the
Reno City Hall Council Chambers - 1 East First Street, Reno
If you cannot attend the Planning Committee Meeting, please email or fax a letter to be read into the public record to Ann Louhela, Executive Director of Nevada Grown
Email: louhela.ann@gmail.com
(775)351-2551 (phone & fax)
At the bottom of this email is a draft letter that states several positions of supporters. Please make changes to all [bracketed and highlighted items] to fit your circumstances and add more comments if you wish. Insist that the Board of Regents retain this land for its original intent, agricultural research and education. It is “one of the last open green spaces in Reno, and Wolf Pack Meats is one of the most technologically advanced meat processing plants in the region.”
Your letter is needed by 5 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 2
Background:
Slow Food Reno and other local food groups and advocates are extremely concerned about a recent action by the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education, which has applied to change the zoning of a portion of the acreage at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Main Station Farm from undeveloped agriculture to “Business Park/IB and IC.” This rezoning could lead to commercial business development on the site and the closing of Wolf Pack Meats and the Main Station Farm. Wolf Pack Meats is Northern Nevada’s only USDA inspected full-process slaughter, cut and wrap facility. It serves many local ranches and processes for five of the six local ranchers that the Great Basin Community Food Co-op buys from. Buying meat from local producers ensures good raising practices.
The Main Station Farm is one of the last open green spaces in Reno. It is a major research and teaching facility for the University of Nevada, Reno and has more than 1,000 acres of prime farmland on the periphery of the city of Reno. Acquired and developed in 1956, the farm is home to herds of cattle and pigs, along with a flock of sheep.
http://reno.gov/index.aspx?recordid=8953&page=939
3. LDC12-00015 (PUD – MSFL McCarran Center) – This is a request for a
zoning map amendment from LLR1 (upon annexation) to PUD (Planned
Unit Development) to allow development of ±17.81 acres of
office/commercial flex uses; ±33.62 acres of office/commercial flex or
business park uses; ±40.46 acres of business park uses; ±11 acres for
roadways and ±1.11 acres for drainage. This is a Project of Regional
Significance as the proposed uses will generate more than 187,500
gallons of sewage per day (±780,988 gallons per day) and more than
6,250 average daily trips (±18,290 average daily trips). The project is
located ±1,000 feet north of the intersection of Pembroke Drive and
South McCarran Boulevard and is bounded to the north by the
intersection of South McCarran Boulevard and Clean Water Way, South
McCarran Boulevard to the west, and to the east and south by remaining
University of Nevada Systems property in the SPA (Special Planning
Area) City of Reno Master Plan land use designation. njg [Ward 3] (For
Possible Action – Recommendation to City Council)
DRAFT LETTER:
Honorable Members of the Reno Planning Commission:
[My Name is ] I am asking that my letter be read into the public record to note my own and my constituents’ concerns over what appears to be a fast track annexation and rezoning of The UNR Farm Station acreage, now known as the McCarran Strip.
I am opposed to this process of annexation and rezoning as there has not been an open and transparent discussion of this proposal with the general public. Considering that the Farm Station is the property of the citizens of the State of Nevada, this fast track without public input indicates a disingenuous action on behalf of the public trust and those that have controlling decisions for the University’s asset management.
I am opposed to such rezoning as it will create a long term incompatible PUD with current agricultural zoning. Considering, the magnitude of such a development as quoted in the Hydrology study submitted by Wood Rogers, Inc Dated August 2011. It seems without a doubt to set the stage for the final death knell for an actual hands-on agriculture program to be reinstated once the economic devastation and recovery allows the College to become reinvigorated. Once large-scale development has it impact, agriculture and agriculture zoning fall to the wayside.
I am opposed to rezoning as the University has not pursued a rigorous process in which the Farm Station remain intact through conservation easements or some sort of managed farm trust. This Farm Station acts as one of our remaining and historic properties that demonstrated that at one time the Truckee Meadows had a very local farming and ranching community that relied on its land grant university to educate its sons and daughters.
I am opposed to the rezoning as there is no promise that once this property has been sold for development that the money received will go to the college of agriculture but instead will filter into an already desperate budget that borrows from one program to pay for another. The message this sale of this land gives to future DONORS is that your intent does not matter to the university and it depends upon the political climate how your gift may one day be used.
I am opposed to the annexation, rezoning, and sale for development of the any part of the UNR Farm Station because the City of Reno, Sparks, and outlying areas including our closest California neighboring rural communities have built upon the momentum of the local, sustainable, small farm and ranch model. It is counter-intuitive to cut off the economic momentum that has included such business as The Great Basin Co-op, Reno- Tahoe Edible Magazine, restaurants from Fourth Street Bistro to Great Basin Brewery and this list is extensive, to the growth of local sustainable small farms and ranches that would not exist without Wolf Pack Meats.
I ask that you uniformly table this zoning change until there can be transparent debate, alternative options explored, and a clear understanding of the economic effects of the incompatibility of a development on prime agricultural and history education land.
Respectfully,
YOUR NAME
Title:
Complete Address:
Email:
Phone Number:
Where there are brackets should be where personal or specific information is included – it is important that you include your title, address, email, and phone number. To be counted as a constituent one must reveal where they live and how they can be contacted.
