Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

One community beats rezoning, another loses

Similar predicaments, opposite outcomes.

Two communities at opposite ends of the Valley -- opposite ends of the Spring Mountain range, technically -- faced a similar zoning issue before the County Commission Wednesday.

Residents of the small town of Blue Diamond opposed a request by Ronald Erskine for commercial zoning to build a shopping center on a 13.5-acre strip of highway frontage at the S.R. 160 turn-off to Red Rock National Conservation Area.

And homeowners on Mt. Charleston came out against developer Allen Nel's plan for a western-themed shopping center and convenience store on 13.2 acres on the north side of Kyle Canyon Road near the Deer Creek Road junction.

Both town advisory boards recommended denial of the respective applications, and cited the same issues of public safety and water use as reasons to oppose their respective projects.

The two towns even banded together in a show of civic solidarity.

"We didn't know it until Monday we were against the same issue," Mt. Charleston resident Jean Perry-Jones said.

But the Blue Diamond denizens won and the Mt. Charleston citizens lost -- because Erskine's request did not meet the land use guides and conditions at the Red Rock turn-off, and Nel's western village did.

"I can understand why the residents of Mt. Charleston would want to keep this precious jewel to themselves," said Bill Curran, the lawyer representing Nel before the Commission. "But for the people who need more passive recreation, this is something our community desperately needs."

Commissioners said they had mixed feelings about the project since they didn't feel it was appropriate now, but it conformed to the current land use guide and they didn't want to rob Nel of that use if the master plan changed.

So the board voted to grant Nel a five-year resolution of intent -- a guarantee to rezone the property in the future, after all the conditions set by the county are met and the construction is near completion.

The project is designed to compliment an 87-acre recreation facility and golf course currently under construction on the south side of Kyle Canyon Road east of the Mt. Charleston Inn.

Erskine's request for general commercial zoning to build a 20,000-square-foot shopping center was unanimously rejected on the grounds that it conformed neither to the master plan or current uses for the area.

However, he can still build a convenience store and gas station on the two acres for which he was granted a special use permit in 1989 and has renewed four times since then.

The difference is the zoning change would have allowed the sale of alcohol and development of casinos and hotels.

Jean Tang, a lawyer for Erskine, argued that the county had given Erskine bad information on which he based his application for commercial zoning. But planners and county counsel shot back that the issue raised was irrelevant to the application.

Commissioner Erin Kenny, who represents the Blue Diamond residents, said she didn't believe commercial zoning was appropriate in making her motion for denial.

"You have all the tools you need to develop the property as indicated," Kenny said.

Because of the decision, a sale that was contingent on getting commercial zoning fell through on all but the two acres, Erskine said. Tang said her client has the option of challenging the decision in court.

Perry-Jones said she was happy for the Blue Diamond residents but not happy about the compromise forced on Mt. Charleston.

"We've had our share of compromises," said Katherine Peck, a Blue Diamond resident who also sits on the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council.

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