Ignite Sparks

In the fall of 2015, the City of Sparks launched a community-wide outreach effort to invite citizen input for a new Comprehensive Plan that will guide the provision of all City services, infrastructure needs and future development through 2030, branded Igniting Sparks. The City’s current Master Plan is comprised of individual master plan elements, adopted at various times over the years, with most having been adopted in the 1990's. Though amendments have been approved through the years, the plan has never before been completely updated. The Comprehensive Plan revises and refreshes existing elements of the Master Plan, while fashioning new goals and policies to direct the City.

Karen Melby is the Development Services Manager with the City of Sparks and she will provide an overview of the extensive public input process and the outcome of those efforts.  Karen has over 35 years of experience as a professional planner; the last 15 years with her current employer, the City of Sparks, Nevada. Her experience includes master planning; population studies including one for the top gun military base; urban transmission corridor studies; environmental assessments for federal agencies and zoning codes writing. Karen is a charter member of the American Planning Association and has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners since 1988. She has been published twice in the Planning magazine.  She has a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Pittsburgh.