3340 Thornhill ADU Rear Setback Deviation

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and numbers may be misheard.

What: major deviation (case LDC27-000025, as captioned) to cut the rear yard setback from 30 ft to 15 ft for an 850 sq ft detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) at 3340 Thornhill Road, in an area captioned "Colin Ranch".
Where it stands: approved 6-1 on 2026-10-14 by the Planning Commission.
Next: none required from the Commission; construction hours condition applies.

The rear of the lot borders an undeveloped parcel owned by Washoe County. Side setbacks are met. Lot coverage would be 14.6% against a 40% limit.
Moving the unit back preserves two mature trees and avoids about 63 cubic yards of grading. Jeff Foster presented alone because the applicant's representative was ill.
Both most-affected neighbors sent letters of support.

A public commenter asked the Commission to check the neighborhood covenants (CC&Rs). Staff and legal said the city does not keep or enforce them; the ADU code only says a city approval does not override private restrictions, so a condition would be inappropriate. Commissioner McCoy pressed on how to make the code-compliance finding; legal said the finding can be made.
Vice Chair Williams voted no: there is ample room to build without a deviation and he could not make two of the findings. Commissioner Bera and Chair Jockman supported it, noting this was among the first ADU requests since the text amendment.

2026-10-14 - Planning Commission (video of the October 14, 2026 Planning Commission meeting; the agenda text was not retrievable)

About 18 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-14 - Planning Commission	18

2026-10-14 - Planning Commission — Staff report, covenant question, approved 6-1 (Vice Chair Williams opposed).