Incase you missed it, here's my opinion recap;

Even a Five-Year-Old Would Know This Is a Dumb Idea
WASHOE VALLEY, Nev. — Jan. 6, 2026

By Jette Porrazzo, SSR4GC, Editor-in-Chief

The Washoe County Planning Commission meeting held Tuesday evening, Jan. 6, 2026, was intense, emotional and revealing. The room was filled not just with residents, but with years of preparation, frustration and determination from a community that has been forced to defend itself again and again.

I want to begin by speaking directly to my neighbors and elders: I am profoundly proud of you. You spoke with clarity, discipline and conviction. You stayed on message. You came armed with facts, visuals, data and lived experience. You gave one of the strongest, most compelling collective presentations I have ever witnessed.

Unfortunately, I was unable to stay through the end of the meeting or speak when my name was called. I was forced to leave early after my medical service dog repeatedly alerted me to dangerously low blood sugar. I became physically ill and needed to get food immediately. Anyone familiar with service dogs understands that when an alert occurs, it is a medical necessity — not a choice.

But if I had been able to speak, this is what I would have said.

What became clear as the evening unfolded is that the community had done its homework — and the county had not. Much of the presentation delivered by county staff closely mirrored information provided by the developer, with little evidence of independent analysis or verification. At times, it felt less like a neutral evaluation and more like a pitch.

Had proper due diligence been conducted, the county would already know what more than two dozen speakers articulated clearly in opposition: this project is environmentally reckless, procedurally flawed and fundamentally incompatible with Washoe Valley.

Residents learned Tuesday night that the proposal includes scraping and terracing up to eight feet of hillside. This type of land alteration directly interferes with natural drainage patterns and threatens to worsen flooding in a valley that already functions as a floodplain. Even a five-year-old understands that cutting into hillsides in a flood-prone area is a dumb idea.

It was also revealed that the developer intends to rely, at least in part, on an existing well located in Old Washoe City, near the site of the former steakhouse, to supplement water needs. This well was not clearly disclosed or analyzed in the project’s formal plan presented to the county.

What makes this omission especially concerning is that the well is located on or near a geothermal fault zone. Water from this well is approximately 20 to 30 degrees warmer than surrounding groundwater, a condition consistent with geothermal influence. Wells affected by geothermal activity behave differently than standard groundwater sources and raise additional concerns regarding sustainability, chemistry and long-term reliability.

If this well is intended to supplement water for a large-scale development, it should have been fully disclosed, evaluated and subjected to independent review. Leaving it out of the plan is not a minor oversight — it is a material omission.

The meeting also confirmed that multiple endangered species inhabit this land. This property is not vacant. It is alive. Washoe Valley and Pleasant Valley represent one of the last remaining refuges for wildlife in the region. Once this habitat is destroyed, there is nowhere else for these animals to go.

Developers often operate in a theoretical “perfect world” — one where impacts are minimized on paper and long-term consequences are someone else’s problem. But the real world tells a different story. A neighboring development, St. James, is currently approximately $1 million in the hole, burdened by the costs of incomplete infrastructure, unmet promises and deferred maintenance. That financial fallout did not disappear — it landed squarely on residents and homeowners.

That history matters.

The energy in the room Tuesday night was unmistakable. People were emotional. People were exhausted. But they were also united. It felt like a breaking point — and a turning point. Residents gave it everything they had, and it showed.

And in the end, it mattered.

On Tuesday night, the Washoe County Planning Commission unanimously denied the Sierra Reflections project.

This decision is a testament to what happens when a community shows up informed, prepared and united. We are stronger together. This fight has never been about politics or profit. It is about protecting our neighbors, our elders, our wildlife and the land that sustains us.

I encourage everyone who spoke — and those who wanted to — to join the coalition. We want you with us. My goal remains simple: to protect each and every one of you.

When all was said and done, the commissioners made the right call.

I guess they really were as smart as a five-year-old.

May God bless this community.