The Douglas County Board

of County Commissioners

Post-Meeting

Board Buzz

October 15, 2026 "Hot Topics"

Administrative Agenda Items

Item 12.3

OPAL Permitting Software Update

The Board of County Commissioners received an update on Community Development’s transition to Oracle Permitting and Licensing (OPAL), a unified system intended to improve efficiency and reduce software costs. The transition also included adopting Bluebeam for plan review and is supported by both the East Fork and Tahoe Douglas Fire Districts.

Oracle’s proposed five-year cost of $395,892.33 is expected to save the County more than $300,000 compared to projected Accela cost increases. By bringing services together into one system, the County also expects to reduce expenses for additional software, maintenance, and outside programming support. Now six months into the transition, staff shared updates on the project, including the challenges encountered and ongoing work with Oracle and GovPath to improve the system and make it easier for staff and the public to use.

Andrea Pawling, Deputy Director of Community Development explained the County's goal moving to OPAL to consolidate functions and reduce reliability on multiple platforms. “One of the biggest goals of going to Oracle was having every department into one platform so we're not utilizing all separate platforms and paying separate platforms, and that includes fire." and "Commissioner Tolbert, you asked specifically about the fire departments being integrated into OPAL. They are, however, the planned review sets that will not start until January 1st.".

Pawling also described some of the technical challenges faced during the transition: “The converted records, it was not a smooth transition. We had so many records that were converted from Acela into Opal and there were only the active live records that we were working on. And we had to touch every single one of them because the workflow reverted back to the beginning, or the fees were reassessed after already being paid in Acela. There was a lot of conversion record issues. It was frustrating, and I'm putting that lightly.” and “The inspector licensing and code enforcement modules, they're a work in progress. They're not as user-friendly as we were hoping. We actually have a call with Oracle tomorrow specifically about the building inspector module. And we're hoping from there we can troubleshoot some of the issues we continue to see.”.

Commissioner Hales questioned the type of customer support the County was receiving, “Well, if a million dollars doesn't give us a person answering the phone, I don't know how much would. It seems like it should.". She continued, "I'm dismayed that there was a reorganization just after or during our implementation, and that left us hanging.”.

Commissioner Hales called on OPAL to recognize the County's experience stating, “I want to pause on this and I want you to feel the heat because we felt it. And I don't think $30,000 credit is adequate in light of the pain that this has caused. So, I don't, I would, I don't want to skim over this and I don't want any blame to be laid on our Community Development department because I've seen how hard they work and I want you to feel this pain because we felt it.”.

Commissioner Rice acknowledged that the transition has improved since the beginning and hope for further improvement and stated, “It was a rough start... The good news is that most of those phone calls and complaints have stopped. I look forward to when the county gets to the point where this thing is seamless and I truly hope that it happens sooner than later.”.

Following the update on Community Development’s transition to Oracle Permitting and Licensing (OPAL), they expressed optimism about the continued improvements in system efficiency, streamlined processes, and enhanced collaboration through the implementation of OPAL.

Item 12.4 & 12.5

Proposed Zoning Change Aims to Expand Workforce Housing

Ordinance 2026-1673, which would create an exemption from commercial space requirements for qualifying affordable housing developments in certain commercial zones, was introduced. The proposed change aims to encourage workforce housing in areas with high commercial vacancies, such as the Gardnerville Ranchos and Indian Hills, where requiring additional commercial space could contribute to existing vacancies.

Under the proposal, qualifying projects could build affordable housing without the current requirement that 25% of the project’s floor area be dedicated to commercial use. The amendment would preserve existing mixed-use requirements in Gardnerville, Minden, and Genoa in accordance with the preferences expressed by their Town Advisory Boards.

Commissioner Rice stated, "I'm glad to see this coming forward. I too have seen a large number of vacant businesses and I keep hearing the need from people that our Douglas County residents whose children can't afford to live here. I've been a proponent of affordable housing, if you will, and I'm glad to see that this is coming.".

Proposed Updates Aim to Strengthen Affordable Housing Regulations

Ordinance 2026-1674, which would update Douglas County’s regulations for density bonuses and affordable housing agreements, was introduced. The proposed changes aim to clarify definitions, improve consistency in the development code, and strengthen the County’s ability to ensure affordable housing commitments are met.

Key updates include requiring affordable housing agreements to remain in place for at least 30 years, revising eligibility criteria for density bonuses, and requiring developers to provide current lease or purchase agreements to help the County monitor compliance. The proposed amendment would also remove outdated language and clarify the County’s options for addressing violations of affordable housing agreements. The presentation provided an overview of the proposed changes and their role in supporting long-term affordable housing.

Kate Moroles-O'Neil, Economic Vitality Manager and Interim Principal Planner spoke on previous comments made by Chairman Gardner and stated, "This is related to the previous item. So, I will ensure that, again, the GIDs are contacted.".

Chairman Gardner clarified previous statements and said, "So, I want there to be no misunderstanding. I do understand the need for affordability in our community. Okay, so make no mistake about that, and I recognize also the abundance of commercial properties that we need filling. Okay, it's not looking good, and we need to address that as well. I don't know how, but hopefully, maybe you and your new role can help us solve that problem as well.".

Item 12.6

Future of Transfer of Development Rights Program

The Board of County Commissioners reviewed findings and recommendations from the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) study, which began in 2023 with assistance from Wood Rodgers, Inc., to evaluate Douglas County’s existing program and identify opportunities for improvement. The program is intended to encourage development in areas with existing infrastructure while preserving agricultural land and open space throughout the County.

The study examined the value of development rights, potential incentives to encourage land conservation, and ways to make the program more effective for local landowners.

Commissioner Tarkanian spoke on his concerns that there was no development timeline when you have a TDR.

Derek Kirkland, Wood Rodgers Inc. explained that the main focus was on receiving area as a whole and the type of area it is instead of timing of development. He further explained, "7,500 TDRs that have been created. Of those TDRs, there's about 3,744 remaining." and "some of those are held by single landowners that are they are for some of their future projects that they could move forward with and I think probably moving forward, we do have some recommendations that could change that a little bit. And so, I think there are things that we try to do to create more demand for TDRs. Because generally, what we see here is that there are TDRs out there, but there's not a huge supply that's a huge backlog of TDRs sitting there on the market.".

Commissioner Hales asked about the method of tracking TDRs and said, "..in your research you found that previously certified TDRs were not adequately tracked or retired when they were used?".

Kate Moroles-O'Neil, Economic Vitality Manager and Interim Principal Planner responded stating, "The records we were really keeping were a sales going on. Where I saw where we lost some things is that final map. So, there were a lot of final maps where projects were completed [and] we don't have that documentation of the TDRs.". and "I worked with AJ to create a document that now is given to applicants...

We want to know the certificate, where these TDRs came from, what conservation easement was done, who'd you buy them from. We want that documentation.

And now we want to know where are these, how many TDRs are going to what project, what phase. And so real specific information. So, moving forward, we have that documentation.".

Jenifer Davidson, County Manager spoke encouragingly on the recommendations presented stating, "I think the reason why you (the Board) may not have a lot of input is because we're in a really good spot with this. I'm very pleased with these recommendations, they have been very thoroughly vetted up until this point. Thank you.".

Commissioner Hales had some concerns stating, "the two pieces that I personally probably need to just spend With is the idea that we would accept TDRs from property that we don't care about keeping open. I'm troubled by that. Even though there would be a density of three times for the property we really want and two times for the property we want, there's other property we really don't. It's not going to be developed. We don't care if it's developed anyway.

And yet, we're accepting TDRs from those properties to keep them open.".

and "there has been some conversation from people on the Carson Water Subconservancy District regarding whether floodplain development in floodplain can be otherwise curtailed because it is in the floodplain that I don't think we have thoroughly explored, and it may have relevance in this process.".

Chairman Gardner spoke stating, "The record keeping, transparency, outreach, I think all of that is very good. Code clarity and consistent, that's going to require you to come back with proposed codes, anyways. The outdated receiving areas, yes, I want to take at outdated receiving areas, but that's going to require the master plan and area plan amendments. So, that's obviously going to have to come back at some point in time to us as we have recommendations in that regard.

One of the things that, and I think Mr. Hussman hit on this, and something that I thought was very important, is requiring TDRs outside of receiving areas, okay, so that every development required a TDR. That would help kickstart that program and help us with that and cause us to have to take some of this area that we would prefer to keep in conservation easements or floodplain in perpetuity, okay, protecting that floodplain area and the ability to have a recharge of our aquifers.

And so that's why we talk about the protect the floodplain. We also need, and I think our public has indicated, we need to take a look at making sure that we keep up with the infrastructure... before the development and so, I think all of those are good and hopefully can kickstart the program a little bit better if we do create that.".

The Board accepted County Staff’s recommendations, with the understanding that further discussion and refinement would occur. Commissioner Hales emphasized the need to more thoroughly explore concerns regarding TDRs accepted on undesirable properties and the potential to curtail development within floodplains before fully endorsing the recommendations.

Item 13

New Art in Public Places Ordinance

The Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2026-1672, which establishes new guidelines for public art in Douglas County and creates a process for mural installations. The ordinance establishes a Public Art Advisory Organization to assist with art projects, provide design guidance, and offer recommendations on the maintenance of public art.

Ordinance 2026-1672 now also allows murals to be installed without a special use permit, simplifying the approval process. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the ordinance by a 6-0 vote. The ordinance will support public art throughout the County while making the mural approval process more straightforward.

Brook Adie, Community Services Director stated, "This is a voluntary process. This is not a mandatory process for anybody that has public art that they would like to bring forward. The idea is: if you have a resident that has a public art idea and they want to do a mural or some type of public art or they have funding, they go to this group, they work with subject matter experts to bring the art project forward. In certain circumstances, a public art project panel might be formed.".

Brook Adie, Community Services Director also explained,  "We did create an application to install public art. And it's a very simple application through administrative review.



I believe the fee that we had talked about was $25 for the application. And there's a couple pieces for it. And really, it provides a description of the mural, its appearance, its proposed location. If the mural is going to be within the boundaries of a town, Genoa, Minden, Garnerville, then we're asking a no fee advisory opinion from the town advising whether the proposed mural complies with the town's design standards and adopted public art plan.".

When Vice Chairman Tolbert asked who the advisory organization would be advising with the intention to clarify their role, Adie answered "they are advisory to the individual who is bringing the art forward. So, they [would] help working with them on how to advise them through the process and if somebody does utilize the advisory boards for a project, then they would provide their recommendation or advisory as if it were to go to any of the boards.". 

MORE ITEMS

Other items not listed above include Operation Green Light for Veterans proclamation (Item 11.1), Community Planning Month proclamation (Item 11.2), Minden Annexation (Item 12.1), Lake Tahoe TMDL Agreement (Item 12.2), and commissioner updates (Item 14).

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