Tag: clearcreekplaza

I drove by the Mirastar gas station in the parking lot of the South Carson (Douglas County) Wal*Mart, and noticed that the prices were missing from the sign. On closer look, the pumps were roped off with yellow caution tape and the pump heads were wrapped up. When we looked even closer, we saw this sign posted on the pumps.

Dear Valued Customer

Effective August 15, 2008 this Mirastar gas station will be permanently closed.

Thanks for your business.

There are no other indications of why the station shut down, but a search online shows that a similar station in Pittsburgh has also closed. The story goes on to say that Tesoro, the parent company of Mirastar, is closing 42 of the 76 stations that they operate in Wal*Mart parking lots nationwide. The only reason given by Tesoro was that it was “a business decision.” So it sounds like a similar situation to the Mervyn's that is in the process of closing. A nationwide company needs to tighten the belt by closing "underperforming" stores, and Carson City gets the shaft end again.

Too bad, because that Mirastar station was one you could always count on for low prices. It was usually right there in the running with Costco and Arco for the lowest price in town, and it was also the only one of those three that accepted credit cards as well as debit. Plus it was very nearly the last gas station you hit on the way out of town; only Chevron and the Silver City RV Park sell gas between there and Minden, and their prices are usually considerably higher.

So now, the real question is, what will become of this facility? Will this gas station remain abandoned, or will some other company swoop in to resume operations and fill the gap it's left behind? I can't see it being torn down, because that would require pulling out the underground tanks, and there is so much environmental red tape involved with that that it would be cheaper just to leave the station boarded up.

Out of all the county lines in Nevada, probably none have gotten more press than the Carson-Douglas county line in the neighborhood of Fuji Park. In less than a decade this part of town has exploded, being transformed from acre after acre of rolling sagebrush into one of the largest shopping complexes outside of Reno. The seemingly endless land at the northern slope of the Indian Hills has proven very attractive for developers, bringing in a Super Wal*Mart, Best Buy, Trader Joe's, Old Navy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Borders Books, In-N-Out Burger, Chilis, Del Taco, and dozens more retailers and restaurants. The twin shopping centers of Carson Valley Plaza and Clear Creek Plaza are one of the fastest-growing parts of Carson City, and there's more in the works. Another big shopping center is planned, along with housing developments, an auto mall, and maybe even a hotel-casino.

The part of the story where this gets interesting, though, is that none of this is actually in Carson City. That's because the county line was drawn at the bottom of the hill, not at the top, so all of this sloping land that you'd think would be part of Carson is really under the jurisdiction of Douglas County. And that means all the tax money from all these shopping and dining establishments goes south to Minden, not north to Carson, and this has caused the Carson City Supervisors no end of being pissed off over the last several years. But why is the county line at the bottom of the hill? Who's responsible for this? Let's see if we can go back in history and figure it out.

Millions of years ago (yes, we're going back that far), huge forces deep inside the Earth under Nevada caused two mountain ranges to rise up, the Carson Range and the Pinenut Mountains. In between the two of them a flat valley formed, and in the middle of that valley was a stubborn outcropping of rock that today we call Indian Hills. These hills kind of pinch off the valley in the middle like an hourglass, enough that from the ground it looks like there are really two separate valleys. Today we call these the Carson and Eagle Valleys.

In the 1850s and 60s when this area was first being settled by Americans, the two valleys were home to two different settlements, Genoa in the south and Carson City in the north. And so when the Nevada Territory was created in 1861, it was only obvious that two separate counties should be formed. The Carson Valley was made into Douglas County, named after Stephen Douglas who had lost the presidency to Abraham Lincoln in 1860. And the Eagle Valley was made into Ormsby County, named after Major William Ormsby who was killed by Paiutes at Pyramid Lake the same year. And where to draw the line between these two counties? At the Indian Hills, of course, the outcropping of rock that still divided the two valleys.

But things got complicated. Every one of Ormsby County's other borders was drawn at the top of a hill. Its border with Washoe County, to the north, followed the ridge of mountains separating the Eagle and Washoe Valleys. And the Lyon County border, to the east, was drawn at the top of the ridge between the Eagle Valley and Mound House. Ormsby County's western border, of course, was in the middle of Lake Tahoe at the California state line. So that left the drawing of the Ormsby-Douglas border, which by all logic should have been drawn along the crest of the Indian Hills. But it wasn't. Instead the county line was drawn to follow Clear Creek, a small stream that came out of the Carson Range right at the base of the Indian Hills. I don't know why they chose the creek to be the county line, but back then the Indian Hills were completely desolate so it didn't really matter where the line was.

The choice of Clear Creek as the county line made for some interesting stories. One I head was the story of a homesteader that lived right on the banks of the creek. He became increasingly frustrated with the taxes and leadership coming from Carson City, so one day he set out with his shovel and rerouted the creek to run around the other side of his house. And voila, just like that he was a resident of Douglas County.

Presumably sometime in the 20th century someone saw how silly it was to have the county line follow a seasonal creekbed, so they stretched it taut into the straight line we have today. But even now, you can see that it swings around Indian Hills instead of going over them, still more or less following the path of the creek.

This map shows the county line as a dotted line that comes down Spooner Summit, through Fuji Park, then keeps going until it hits Center Drive coming out of the Stewart Indian Community. It turns south and follows Center Drive for a bit, right along the extreme eastern edge of Indian Hills. The line seems to be avoiding the hills all together. After one last detour to the east, it finally meets back up with Clear Creek and follows the path of the Virginia and Truckee right-of-way all the way to the Carson River. Then it turns east again, heading straight into the mountains where it meets up with Lyon County.

This line seems to have been deliberately drawn to keep all of the Indian Hills inside Douglas County, but the why of that doesn't really make any sense to me. It could have easily been put at the crest of the hill, where modern-day Jack's Valley Road meets the highway. And then we wouldn't be having to sit through all of the teeth-gnashing we have today about how all the retailers and auto dealers are "defecting" to Douglas County, and how Douglas is "stealing" Carson's tax base. Maybe if the Ormsby County founding fathers had known how valuable the Indian Hills would someday be, they wouldn't have given them up so quickly.

Oh, and here's one more funny thing about the county line:

Look at the county line in this satellite picture, and see how it jogs around the old midget kart racetrack in Fuji Park. That's pretty funny, how the racetrack was so important to Carson that the line had to be drawn that way. Especially since, further to the west, parts of the park spill over into Douglas County. Even the Fuji Park Cemetery seems to be split in half by the line, almost to where James Johnson and John Thoroughman are buried in separate counties. But god forbid Carson would give up their racetrack!

I couldn't help myself. A few pictures of new stuff happening around the area.

Some more new signalheads have been installed at Stephanie Way. A sign assures us that the signal will go live in "2 weeks".

I think there's only one more new pole to install, the one that will rise out of the center island and contain the left turn signals.

The Presbyterian Church in Carson City is gathering heavy equipment. I think this is all part of their project to tear down part of the church, renovate and reinforce the historic central sanctuary, which dates back to before Nevada became a state, and build a larger building to hold services in.

And lastly, this is something I've been saying was necessary for years. They've finally put up a monument sign for Clear Creek Plaza. This has been needed ever since the new Wal*Mart opened, because it's nearly impossible to see the store from the highway. Particularly when it first opened, nobody knew exactly where it was or where to turn. I once ran into a lady in the Target parking lot asking me how to get to Wal*mart. She had completely missed the turn because there was no sign. So now, she won't have to worry about getting lost. And once they get a Trader Joe's sign installed in there, people won't have trouble finding that store either.

It looks like we're getting an early Christmas present here in Carson City. Our new Trader Joe's has posted signs in the window announcing that they're going to open on December 8th, just a week and a half from now.

There were also several people in tonight frantically stocking the shelves, getting ready for opening day.

Can't wait!

There is life inside the empty storefronts at Clear Creek Plaza. The "For Lease" signs have come down, paper has gone up in the windows, and workers are going in and out of Suite 401. Could this be the start of construction on the fabled Carson City Trader Joe's?

I had an anonymous commenter yesterday who said that the Trader Joe's in Carson City is scheduled to open on September 29th of this year. That's great news, but there's one big piece of the story that's still missing; where is it going to be?

My bet is still on this place:

That's in the Clear Creek Plaza next to the Douglas County Wal*Mart. These buildings are brand new, and right now there are only a few tenants, like Subway and a rent-to-own place. Tons of storefronts are still available, and I could see Trader Joe's snatching up several of them to build their store. Also, the few news reports I've seen on the topic have said it's moving into the Clear Creek Plaza.

Which brings on more confusion. I saw a report on the Channel 2 news out of Reno that mentioned Trader Joe's, but showed video of this building being worked on:

There's a problem here: this is the Carson Valley Plaza. And, there's no way this is going to be done by September 29th. Plus it's way to small.

So that puts us back across the street at Clear Creek. I'm sure that's where it's going, and everytime I drive by I look for signs of activity. But still, even today, the For Lease signs are up in the windows. So I can't be sure until I see workmen move in to start converting the building.

Which should be happening soon, if the store's going to open in 10 weeks. Get hopping, guys!