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Organizations endorsing the acquisition
of the Ballardini Ranch
and the defeat of SB 326
Updated 4-21-2005
9:22 a.m. PDT
Friends of Ballardini
Friends of Nevada Wilderness
Nevada Conservation
League
Nevada Sportsman Coalition
Nevada
Wilderness Project
Nevada
Wildlife Federation
Progressive Leadership Alliance of
Nevada
Protect Our Washoe
Public Resource Associates
Scenic Nevada
Sierra Club, Toiyabe Chapter
Truckee Meadows Trails Association
Truckee River Yacht Club
Voices for Truckee Meadows
Washoe County Backcountry
Coalition
Any
other organizations supporting preservation of the Ballardini Ranch and
open spaces (and opposing SB 326), please
contact us for listing here and in bulletins.
Vote
down SB 326
Save the Ballardini Ranch
Sen. Terry
Care, D-Las Vegas, is the sole sponsor of the bill, passage of which
will benefit only one corporation, a textbook definition of special
interest lawmaking. On
April 6, 2005, Reno's KRNV TV-4 reported that the Ballardini Ranch developers
wrote part of SB 326. The single-interest bill not only jeopardizes
multiple use preservation, but also poses a significant danger to public
safety. The developer-Care proposal would bar state and local governments
from acquiring land for flood control and historic preservation as defined
in Nevada Revised Statutes 376A.010 (Page
one, line 12 of SB 326).
Sen. Care has stated that it is his intention to legislatively defeat
a matter now before the courts. On July 27, 2004, the Washoe County
Commission voted to begin the process to acquire the property by eminent
domain. Senate Bill 326 would short-circuit the process while making
it illegal for all Nevada governments to acquire open space through
eminent domain.
Public acquisition of the Ballardini Ranch will preserve a broad swath
of multi-purpose open space from the southwest McCarran loop almost
to the Mt. Rose Highway. It is the last large available parkland available
in the fast-growing Truckee Meadows. Given its border with the Toiyabe
National Forest, the Ballardini Ranch can be devoted to a rich range
of uses in addition to critical wildlife habitat. It can accommodate
hiking, picnicking, skiing, camping, education, public and private events.
Reno's Bartley Ranch and Rancho San Rafael parks provide smaller examples
of the potential.
The ranch was acquired by a Minnesota-based developer for $8.5 million
in 1998. The property was appraised by Washoe County at $20 million
in 2004. Funding for the acquisition was available from two sources:
$4 million from a bond issue passed by Washoe County voters in 2000
and $16.5 million from the federal government. The developer sent a
letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton that it was no
longer a willing seller. This resulted in the loss of the federal funds.
There is no area of Nevada immune to flood danger. Barring governments
from condemning land for flood control is bad public policy and a danger
to lives and property. Another proposal, Assembly
Bill 143,
provides a solution to the abuse of eminent domain which has been of
such concern in Clark County. AB 143 enjoys a bi-partisan majority of
both houses as sponsors. Sen. Care himself, the only sponsor of SB 326,
has signed on as a major sponsor of AB 143 which was voted out the Assembly
Judiciary Committee on April 13 with a "do pass as amended"
recommendation.
Senate Bill 326 should not go forward. AB 143 should.
CONTACT
YOUR LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES
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