Nevada
Buying Land in Storey County, Nevada
Storey County is Nevada's smallest county by land area and one of its least populous, but it holds two of the state's most consequential land stories at once: historic Virginia City, the heart of the Comstock Lode, and the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, a private industrial park occupying a documented, enormous share of the county's total land and hosting Tesla's Gigafactory, Google, and Switch. Here's what that combination means for buying land here.
A private industrial park that occupies a defining share of the county's land
Storey County is Nevada's smallest county by area, at roughly 264 square miles -- and the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRIC), a privately owned and operated industrial park with its own rail line and power infrastructure, has been reported at roughly 107,000 acres, a scale that puts it in the same range as the county's total land area and makes it one of the largest industrial parks in the United States by acreage. TRIC hosts Tesla's Gigafactory Nevada (the battery and vehicle-component plant that broke ground after a roughly $1 billion Nevada tax-incentive deal), along with Google, Switch, a Walmart distribution center, and more than a hundred other companies' logistics and fulfillment operations.
For a land buyer, what matters is less TRIC itself -- it's a privately developed and managed industrial park, not raw land for sale -- and more what its presence has done to the rest of the county: a formerly sparsely populated mining county has become, in the space of about a decade, host to a technology and logistics hub with substantial associated infrastructure (power, rail, water, and road investment) and real, ongoing growth pressure. That can raise land values and utility availability near the park, and it can also mean more industrial traffic and development pressure on land that was previously purely rural. If you're evaluating a parcel near TRIC, ask Storey County Planning directly about current zoning, any pending rezoning or infrastructure projects nearby, and how close the parcel actually sits to the industrial park's boundary rather than assuming from a map alone.
Virginia City and Gold Hill: real historic-district land-use rules on top of county zoning
Virginia City and neighboring Gold Hill, in the mountainous southwest part of the county, are the historic heart of the Comstock Lode -- the 1859 silver and gold discovery that helped fund California's and Nevada's early development -- and remain a major Nevada tourist destination today. Because of that history, the area sits within a National Historic Landmark District, and land use, building alterations, and new construction there are subject to review beyond Storey County's standard zoning, aimed at preserving the district's historic character.
This matters concretely for a buyer: a parcel inside or adjacent to the historic district can face additional design review, restrictions on exterior changes, or limits on new construction that wouldn't apply to an otherwise similar parcel elsewhere in the county. Confirm with Storey County Planning whether a specific parcel falls inside the historic-district boundary and what additional review, if any, applies before assuming county zoning alone governs what you can build.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Storey County
Storey County is small enough that several administrative functions -- including GIS/parcel-mapping requests -- are typically handled informally through the Assessor's or Planning office rather than a separate dedicated department; we did not find a distinct standalone GIS office to list separately, so route mapping questions through the Assessor or Planning contacts above.
Planning & Zoning
Storey County Planning Department
Confirming a parcel's zoning district under Title 17, permitted uses, Master Plan designation, and whether it falls within the Virginia City/Gold Hill historic-district overlay.
Building & Permitting
Storey County Community Development / Building Department
Building permits, plan review, and inspections for construction in unincorporated Storey County, including near Virginia City and TRIC.
Septic / Onsite Wastewater
Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) -- Environmental Health Section
Individual sewage disposal system (septic) permits for Storey County parcels -- Storey County is one of the rural counties served directly by the state ISDS program rather than a local health district.
Assessor / Property Tax
Storey County Assessor
Current assessed value and property tax questions for a specific parcel.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Storey County Recorder
Recorded deed, easement, and plat history for a specific parcel.
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Get local guidanceSources
- Zoning Ordinances — Storey County, Nevada Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Master Plan — Storey County, Nevada Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Chapter 1: Introduction & Framework (Master Plan) — Storey County, Nevada Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Tahoe Reno Industrial Center — Wikipedia (cross-referenced with news reporting) (accessed 2026-09)
- What Tesla's multibillion-dollar Gigafactory expansion means for Nevada — The Nevada Independent (accessed 2026-09)
- Storey County, Nevada — Wikipedia (cross-referenced with U.S. Census Bureau data) (accessed 2026-09)
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Storey County, Nevada — U.S. Census Bureau (accessed 2026-09)
- Assessor — Storey County, Nevada Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Individual Sewage Disposal Systems -- Permits — Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09