{"id":528682,"date":"2026-03-17T11:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/528682\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T11:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:51:10","slug":"nevada-residents-fight-golf-course-housing-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/528682\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada residents fight golf course housing plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

SPARKS, Nevada \u2014 Residents of the master-planned residential neighborhood Wingfield showed up in force at a community meeting to express their opposition to a plan to turn part of a neighboring golf course into a housing development.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people packed the cafeteria of Sky Ranch Middle School in Sparks last week a meeting held by the Wingfield Springs Preservation Group. The public meeting was organized to galvanize efforts against plans by Red Hawk Golf and Resort to build hundreds of homes at the golf course.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of this meeting is to start a process of organizing a community of individuals who have one thing very much in common, and that is opposition to this development,\u201d said Brian Moore, director of the Wingfield Springs Community Association, which also opposes the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a golf course issue, this is a community issue \u2014 and I\u2019m a golfer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/p>\n

Sean McCaffrey, a candidate for Sparks City Council Ward 4, shares his thoughts at the Wingfield Springs Community meeting at the Sky Ranch Middle School cafeteria on Thursday, March 12, 2026. The meeting discussed a proposal to build housing at Red Hawk Golf property.<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s comment garnered applause from the standing room crowd, many of whom did not hesitate to show which side they were on.<\/p>\n

The list of concerns echoed by attendees includes traffic congestion, safety and lower home values.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs proposed, this project fundamentally misaligns with our city\u2019s needs and values,\u201d said resident Tom Ciesynski, who is part of the Wingfield Springs Preservation Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur community needs to stand united to say no to this proposal in its current form.\u201d<\/p>\n

More: Red Hawk seeking to build hundreds of homes at golf course<\/a><\/p>\n

What is being proposed at Red Hawk golf course?<\/p>\n

An application submitted by Red Hawk to the City of Sparks on Jan. 21 calls for an amendment to its master development plan for Wingfield Springs as it proposes to close the Lakes Course for development while keeping the Hills course.<\/p>\n

The move will cut the number of holes from 36 to \u201ca more manageable\u201d 18 holes, according to Red Hawk. In addition to shutting down its Lakes Course to build 606 homes, Red Hawk is also looking to build 158 additional homes at another location in the foothills.<\/p>\n

The 764 homes translate to more than a thousand cars spilling into roads already struggling with capacity, Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about traffic on Vista and Sparks Boulevard as it is now,\u201d Moore said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to get any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A school cafeteria full of Wingfield Springs residents listen during a meeting that was held to discuss the proposed project to build 764 residential units on the Red Hawk Golf Course on March 12, 2016.<\/p>\n

Traffic was also one of the concerns cited by resident Eddie Goenne at the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot of traffic (and) you\u2019ve got a lot of kids,\u201d Goenne said. \u201cI\u2019m worried about kids getting hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goenne also questioned if the city had enough law enforcement personnel to handle such an influx of people into the Wingfield area.<\/p>\n

For Red Hawk, the golf course claims that its development plans are a matter of survival.<\/p>\n

Red Hawk previously pointed to the closure of several golf courses in the area such as Northgate<\/a> and Rosewood Lakes in Reno, a reflection of an industry that has struggled since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Red Hawk also noted how Wildcreek and D\u2019Andrea golf courses in Sparks have reduced their number of holes, while Lakeridge Golf Course in Reno is looking to build a potential boutique hotel<\/a> at its property.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the 2008 Great Recession, the United States has seen nearly 1,600 golf courses close,\u201d Red Hawk mentioned in its proposal. \u201cThis is due to several factors, including a diminishing interest in golf, rising costs for maintenance and the need for suitable land for development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

Red Hawk Golf Resort in Sparks, Nevada, has two courses, one designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., and the other by Hale Irwin.<\/p>\n

Legal stakes raised in battle between residents and Red Hawk<\/p>\n

Some attendees expressed concern on whether the development is already a done deal, regardless of what they do.<\/p>\n

Despite the turnout, Goenne expressed skepticism about things going the way that residents opposed to the project want it to.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou make everybody show up and then, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s still going to happen,\u2019\u201d Goenne said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how politics plays a role with things like this,\u201d Goenne added.<\/p>\n

\"Wingfield<\/p>\n

Wingfield Springs residents listen during the Wingfield Springs Community meeting that was held at Sky Ranch Middle School to discuss the proposed project to build 764 residential units on the Red Hawk Golf Course on March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

Moore admitted that stopping the project will not be easy. He confirmed that his group is taking additional action against the proposed development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will tell you \u2026 the Wingfield Springs HOA has hired legal counsel,\u201d Moore said. \u201cI think we\u2019ve all agreed that really the only way to defeat this is through legal means.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the people who will play a role in the decision to approve the project or not were present at the meeting.<\/p>\n

Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson and city councilmembers Charlene Bybee and Paul Anderson could be seen among the crowd at the event.<\/p>\n

The officials were limited in what they could say about the issue, according to Lawson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to ask me if I would vote for it, I can\u2019t tell you,\u201d Lawson said.<\/p>\n

The issue is especially tricky to address for Sparks City Council members, who have to balance the concerns of residents against the project with those who call for increasing the housing supply to quell skyrocketing home prices.<\/p>\n

\"Wingfield<\/p>\n

Wingfield Springs residents react during a meeting that was held at Sky Ranch Middle School on Thursday, March 12, 2026, to discuss the proposed project to build 764 residential units on the Red Hawk Golf Course.<\/p>\n

Decision makers also have to consider the precedent set by cases like the Badlands Golf Course housing development, which the city of Las Vegas tried to block.<\/p>\n

\u201cLas Vegas lost a lawsuit for the Badlands Golf Course,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cIt cost them $300 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing Lawson confirmed is that the city wants a decision about the project to come sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the best thing to do is get an answer for all these people,\u201d Lawson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s good or bad, get an answer, then you can react. But having this loom over your head for months and years is not a way to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Wingfield residents fight golf course housing plan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPARKS, Nevada \u2014 Residents of the master-planned residential neighborhood Wingfield showed up in force at a community meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[237734,4779,237737,427,15226,121944,237736,237738,99,237735,237739,237733],"class_list":["post-528682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-brian-moore","tag-development","tag-eddie-goenne","tag-golf","tag-golf-course","tag-housing-development","tag-red-hawk","tag-red-hawk-golf","tag-sports","tag-wingfield-springs","tag-wingfield-springs-preservation","tag-wingfield-springs-preservation-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}