In what will give the Reno City Council more leverage in asking developers for public areas, city planners have revived their stalled efforts at writing a master plan for green space.

The end result could be better connections between neighborhood trails and those that venture into the hills around town, more bike paths and better protection for open space.

The goal is to help planners get amenities in new developments, said Reno Associate Planner Jessica Jones, heading the effort for the city.

The city hired a consultant to lead the project, created a working group of about 20 community members and hosted the first of two broad public meetings. The second meeting is scheduled Jan. 19 in the California Building at Idlewild Park.

Valerie Andersen, a member of several area clubs dedicated to open space and a part of the city's working group, said the plan will help ensure open space remains accessible as Reno continues annexing parts of Washoe County for development.

"I'm hoping to preserve public access to trails and also wildlife corridors and open space," Andersen said.

Enforcing the council's will about open space can be difficult because the policies aren't outlined clearly in the master plan, Jones said.

"With this policy document we'll be able to say you have to do this and this and this," she said, suggesting the city could require developers to tie into the regional trail system at specific places.

For Lori Wray, another member of the working group and president of Scenic Nevada, the biggest issue is protecting ravines and drainage ways for open space, something she's been fighting in her southwest Reno neighborhood for years.

"We just want developers to be sensitive to the flood plains that are in (the neighborhoods) and try and leave some open space," Wray said.