Roads and utilities for the Gray’s Crossing Village got the green light at Wednesday’s Truckee Planning Commission meeting, but the village architecture hit a red light.

“I feel like this architectural style, to me, is more Anytown USA,” said commissioner Nikki Riley. “It could be found in Reno or Roseville.”

The Village at Gray’s Crossing, which will be located on 20 acres south of the intersection of Highway 89 north and Prosser Dam Road, already received approval from the Truckee Town Council as part of the Gray’s Crossing plan in February 2004. The planning commission was reviewing the architecture and site layout to determine whether to issue a development permit for the parcel.
Under the commission’s action, the developer can subdivide the land and put in roads and utilities, but will have to return to the commission with altered architecture before the buildings go up.

The commissioners praised the pedestrian nature of the proposal, which includes a bike trail, parks and covered sidewalks.

The big hang-up was an architectural style that used clocktowers, timbers and some stucco exteriors.

Commissioner Bob Johnston called the effect a “funny Germanic, industrial building style.”

Commissioner Riley was perhaps the harshest on the design, calling it “almost a Disneyland effect.

“I can’t tie this to anything in our community,” said Riley, who added that the design should borrow from historic Truckee architecture.

Wright and Company, a village developer with experience in Colorado, will build the village portion of Gray’s Crossing. They will return to the commission, with Gray’s Crossing developer East West Partners, with revised building designs at a later date.