Thursday, Feb. 22, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The County Commission has temporarily scrubbed a new zoning map restricting development based on noise levels caused by jets zooming and booming out of Nellis Air Force Base.
The board held a public hearing Wednesday to consider changing its airport environs ordinance to ban high-density residential development in some areas where noise levels exceed acceptable federal standards for homes.
But after a lengthy public debate about the noise levels, the board decided to hold the item for 30 days, until county officials could explain the zoning changes to concerned residents.
About 200 of the 17,000 people who received notices from the county showed up for the hearing, apparently more concerned about the increase in the noise and jet traffic coming out of Nellis than in any zoning changes.
"We're quite concerned about the increased air traffic out there," said Don Dickson, vice president of the Northwest Citizens Association. "It sounds like a war zone out there."
Residents told the board they were afraid of declining property values and crashing jets. Said one woman who manages a mobile home park near the airport, "This could put us out of business."
Commissioners had to explain several times that they had no control over the flight paths of Air Force jets, recommending that people write to Congress or the White House.
"There is absolutely nothing we can do to restrict the Air Force from flying in certain directions," Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates said. "The only reason this item is here is so that in the future any items that come before us we will know the truth about the noise level. I know that's not what people want to hear, but that's the reality."
Some property owners did want to know what effect the zoning changes would have on their property values, and Gates told them they could talk to county planning manager Lucy Stewart from 1-5 p.m. Feb. 28.
The board will rehear the ordinance amendments March 20.
Because of changes in flight patterns, volume of air traffic and the kinds of jets coming into Nellis in the past six years, noise levels have gone up and spread out, officials said.
Zoning maps based on flight data haven't been updated since 1986.
The changes would have banned high-density residential development in areas between Lamb Boulevard and Pecos Road north of Cheyenne Avenue, and required sound attenuation for residential buildings in other areas.
"That means for us and for citizens of Clark County, if you have vacant land in the noise contour, the regulations for development are stricter," county planner Calvin Champlin said. "What you can build becomes more intensely regulated."
The new regulations would have no impact on existing homes or businesses, Champlin said. They would still technically allow two single-family homes per acre, but the cost of baffling and insulating against the loud noise from the base would be cost-prohibitive, he said.
The county would instead encourage commercial development, such as light industrial and manufacturing, offices and warehouses, he said.
With all the base closings around the country, the Air Force has become more dependent on Nellis in the last few years, county planner John Wardlaw said.
That's led to an increase in flights to about 37,000 a year, a change in the type of jets coming in and changes in training runs, said Col. Greg Riggs, the base civil engineer.
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