Washoe Parks Commission votes to reject soccer stadium at South Valleys Regional Park

The Washoe County Open Space and Regional Parks Commission voted unanimously to reject the professional soccer stadium proposal in the South Valleys Regional Park on Wednesday after significant community opposition.

The $40 million unsolicited proposal was brought to the parks commission in May by Wendy Damonte, speaking for the For Our Fans Foundation. The nonprofit was pushing for an outdoor soccer stadium and training facility in the park. The FOFF can still take it to the Washoe County Commission, but the parks commission voted to not recommend it.

South Valleys Regional Park on Wedge Parkway has youth soccer and baseball fields and a play area. It's adjacent to the South Valleys Library.

Roughly 50 people signed up to speak at the parks commission, most expressing concern and dissatisfaction with the stadium proposal.

As news of the stadium proposal spread, residents have submitted more than 300 pages of public comment for Wednesday's meeting.

Dr. Massoud Dorostkar donated roughly 22 acres to Washoe County in 2009. Previously, only conceptual discussions and drawings for the regional park had taken place as part of the park’s master plan from 2015.

However, Mina Dorostkar, the daughter of the donor, told the commission her father would not support this.

“He would’ve absolutely been opposed to a 10,000-capacity stadium built by private investors for profit on land he donated,” Dorostkar said. “This is far from the community use that my dad agreed to.”

Damonte told the parks commission at the May meeting that she spoke with the heirs who donated land to the parks since the donors had died. She said the heirs were “extremely excited” and gave their “100% support” to this plan.

Dorostkar told the commission that Damonte reached out to her for a meeting to discuss “an indoor facility as a place for local youth soccer and lacrosse teams to utilize year-round.”

She said she was open to hear more, but the meeting never materialized and she heard about the plan from the RGJ.

“I believe the proposed stadium is in opposition to the spirit and intent of (my father’s) agreement,” Dorostkar said. “I hope the parks commission will take this into consideration and will not allow this stadium to be built.”

“And I hope they listen to the neighbors who live in that community.”

Commissioners driven to 'no' vote

Commissioner Mark Neumann had concerns about if the community has to “foot the bill” if the soccer stadium isn’t successful.

“If the soccer team does fail, is this going to be stuck on the taxpayers … or is it going to be stuck on (the parks commission)?” Neumann asked.

Eric Crump, director of the county’s community services, told the commission that they can look at Reno Ice for how this would work, as this was a previous unsolicited proposal working in the same way.

“There are strategies in place so the burden does not fall on the taxpayer,” Crump said.

Commission Chair Kevin Joell wondered why the FOFF organization did not push to pursue other places, like the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center.

“That just seems really suspicious to me,” Joell said. “Why the park? Why is it so important to put this in the park?”

Michelangelo Aranda said none of the presenters’ answers were clear about their questions on traffic and noise, the two primary concerns of the community. However, he wondered how it would affect the community if the stadium were to sell out.

“What about the people who live there?” Aranda asked. “We can’t trump those who live around it to justify a benefit to the city. … It can’t just be something we toy around with.”

Bob Enzenberger, board chair of FOFF, told the commission that the process will be “robust,” according to county staff, where communication of the traffic and noise concerns will be heard during the planning and design process.

However, Aranda said the system was “broken” and that it was “very scary” how projects like Reno Ice could be approved without full community involvement.

Joell said seeing the amount of public commenters responding helped them come to this decision.

“I loved the idea when it came to us, but it was just like the more information we got or didn’t get it just kept raising more and more questions,” Joell said.

Community outrage against proposal

The commissioners had already made it clear they were going to motion in opposition. However, many commenters wanted to still express their concerns for the project and gratitude to the parks commission for their rejection.

Reno lawyer Joey Gilbert thanked the commissioners for listening to the community and opposing the proposal.

“I think there would’ve been some serious problems with that deed restriction. That would’ve created some issues,” Gilbert said.

Marc Radow, a 45-year resident of Reno, who previously went to the Washoe County Commission to oppose the project, choked up when he presented his letter to the parks commission. He said he plays soccer with his children in the park and has concerns about the stadium.

“Before coming here today, I felt the weight of the world. The silver lining here is the opportunity for the people to come together and make a difference,” Radow said, thanking the commissioners and community for their opposition.

Eric Blanton, president of Washoe Little League, also voiced his opposition against this proposal. His league is hosted by the South Valleys complex.

It was mentioned at the June meeting that the Little League was in support of the stadium, but Blanton said this was a false statement.

“Currently, we have not had any conversations with the soccer stadium group about the development of the space there,” Blanton said. “To state our league was on board and is supporting this initiative is very misleading and really troubling to hear.”

Blanton said the league had invited Damonte to their board meeting, but they haven’t had further engagement with FOFF. He said 91 teams and more than 1,000 kids play baseball and softball in the league, so they don’t want to lose the fields.

“We need fields,” Blanton said. “We need softball fields, so whatever we can do moving forward to push this portion, this phase for more fields for these girls to build on their success this year and further down the road for future generations, we do request that.”

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Washoe Parks Commission votes to reject soccer stadium at South Valleys Regional Park