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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Twenty-one years of intense public comments, legal feuds and lawsuits on a massive housing project in the shadow of beloved Red Rock ended at 3:04 PM at the Clark County Government Center where six commissioners approved a settlement that will allow a developer to build 3,500 homes near the popular natural attraction.
Clark County commissioners threw in the towel.
They appeared scared that Clark County could be liable for up to $2 billion if the county lost a lawsuit filed by developer Jim Rhodes in light of a recent Nevada Supreme Court ruling on a land use case involving the city of Las Vegas and a developer who wanted to build houses on the closed Badlands golf course in the west valley.
The county commissioners who voted for the 3,500-home settlement: Jim Gibson, Marilyn Kirkpatrick, William McCurdy II, Ross Miller, Michael Naft, and Tick Segerblom. Commissioner Justin Jones abstained. Jones represented a group that opposed the giant housing development before he was elected to Clark County’s governing board.
In all, 22 speakers commented on the settlement, each offering two minutes of thoughts and observations about a highly-controversial housing proposal that has no infrastructure. Twenty opposed the settlement, and two supported it.
One opponent pleaded with the commission to continue waging the legal battle against Rhodes: “Fight for what we put you here to do. Fight. Fight for it.”
But it was obvious — even before the public comments — the commissioners had made up their minds. It was, no mas.
“We’ve fought to the end,” said Gibson, who made the motion to settle. “It’s the best we could do.”
What they did was green light a deal that allows 3,500 homes on 2,010 acres near Red Rock Canyon and the federally-managed Red Rock National Conservation Area. Clark County also has to pay $86 million to Rhodes.
Few major urban areas have such a spectacular natural resource like Red Rock sitting so close to their populace. The word is out, too. Red Rock draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from the western U.S. and around the world and creates millions of dollars in revenue annually for the local economy through tourism companies and tour operations.
After Gibson’s comments, County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom assured the residents in the room that there was, in his words, “No corruption.”
As for land development standards, well, that’s a whole different topic.
What is striking about the map displaying the site at the meeting is how the project is remote from infrastructure services. The county-approved deal says the housing development’s traffic access will be State Route 160, or Blue Diamond Road. But Blue Diamond Road has already become a busy suburban road of four lanes only a few miles to the east.
And it’s inevitable that two-lane State Route 159, the artery for Red Rock, will experience a strong increase of traffic from the housing project.
The Rhodes-Gypsum housing project is atop Blue Diamond Hill, considered a natural barrier against Las Vegas’ light pollution.
Save Red Rock is the nonprofit group that opposed the massive housing project. Here’s its statement: “This is one battle in an ongoing war, and we are ready to continue the fight. We must stay vigilant on all levels: county, state, and federal. We are consulting with experts in the legal and conservation fields to consider our next steps. We will keep you informed every step of the way.”
County staff and commissioners considered this deal a “compromise” because Rhodes wanted to build more than 5,000 homes.
This resident did not agree as she left the room, uttering, “You’re not serving the community.”
One person who did not speak at the zoning commission meeting was Rhodes himself.
His website says Rhodes has been a driving force in shaping the Las Vegas landscape.
His master plan community of 3,500 homes outside Las Vegas and near Red Rock will have a profound impact on the popular natural resources that draws more than 1 million visitors a year and is a major environment tourist attraction.
Even Rhodes seems to like Red Rock based on this photo from his website.
Nobody from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management spoke at the county meeting.