As part of our reporting on the disappearance of public space in Reno, it’s important for us to comment on looming council discussions to abandon the two way Stevenson Street between West First and West Second streets to make it a one way with a mix of public and private parking.
The request by ECI Riviera 2 and Kromer Investments was supposed to be heard September 11th, but that meeting was postponed due to the Davis Fire. It’s not on the agenda for the catchup special meeting this Thursday, while the public notice remains.
Kromer has been in the news recently for leaving several elevators at the Riverwood Apartments it manages on Kuenzli in disrepair for months on end, greatly inconveniencing residents there. Kromer Investments manages a dozen or so apartment complexes across northern Nevada and has a low 1.6 star average on Yelp.
“They'll screw over tenants any chance they get and have many appliances and things not working for extended periods of time. Corporate slumlords,” Scott recently wrote in late July on that website.
A Kromer representative responded: “It's not intention to make you feel that way and we'd like to correct the issue at quickly as possible. Please, reach out to our management team at admin@kromerinvestments.com and let us know where you live and what issues you're dealing with.”
East of the Stevenson street now under review are The Mod and Mod 2 at Riverwalk apartments and to the west is a vacant lot. There were previous directions related to the weed and rock filled western side of Stevenson being built out before any other changes were decided, which now seem to have gone by the wayside.
As it’s currently set up, Stevenson street is convenient for cyclists and cars to get in and out of downtown Reno.
We see this potential abandonment as part of a trend in Reno by the current majority on City Council to privatize public assets and allow more and more parking.
What the public wants or needs becomes an “evaporating concept,” as one City Council aptly puts it, with developer driven decisions and haphazard overall planning.