Construction projects hit delays because of legal snags

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Daily Mail

Two of the projects the Nevada Planning Commission was scheduled to consider Tuesday afternoon during their regular monthly meeting were postponed because of legal issues.

One of the projects is Marmaduke Estates; a housing development that Terry Hoeper wants to build on 50 acres of the property that the state gave to the city when they closed the Nevada State Hospital.

Hoeper, who is the most recent developer to try and build houses on this tract, ran into difficulty determining exactly who owns the property so he can obtain a clear title to it.

"We want to do it right," Hoeper told the commission.

City code requires that a developer must have a clear title to a piece of property before the city will approve a final plat for a development.

Ashley Dobbs, an English developer, proposed building Acorn TeleVillage on this property in the mid-1990s to cater to home businesses using high-speed telecommunications. There are currently two partially finished houses on the property.

A similar project Dobbs built in Britain went bankrupt several years ago.

The second project the planning commission had to postpone was the platting of a new street that Barry Clark wants to build to connect a new entrance on Austin Boulevard to Lincoln Avenue on the north side of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter.

There is a question of whether the city code allows a street to be platted through unplatted property. The surrounding property is currently unplatted.

In other business the commission:

* Held a public hearing and voted to recommend that the city council vacate utility easements, alleyways and the platted, but unconstructed, part of Webster Street between Hickory and Ashland streets.

* Held a public hearing and voted 8-0-1, with Amy Henry abstaining because of a conflict of interest, to send a positive recommendation to the city council to approve the final plat of Ashland Estates Plat No. 1. Dean Stutesman is planning to build a housing development on 10 acres of property located west of Hoffman Street and between Hickory and Ashland streets in the west part of town.

* Held a public hearing and voted unanimously to recommend that the city council accept the final replat of Barton's Addition at the request of Mark Selsor. Selsor wants to build six single-family homes on this property, which is located to the east of an unconstructed part of Main Street, between Hardin Drive on the south and North Avenue on the north. The streets in the development will be paid for by a Neighborhood Improvement District assessment on each house. The city will extend the sewer lines, which is one of the development incentives the city recently approved. The developer will be responsible for installing new water mains.