Hunt questions wisdom of Town Center

The on-again, off-again Town Center Project that will bring at least 2,100 acres of businesses and high-density housing to northwest Las Vegas has already angered home owners.

Now the plan is baffling at least one Clark County commissioner.

Lorraine Hunt questioned the city of Las Vegas' plan to build a massive town center that would provide enough jobs for 100,000 people when its mission previously was to draw more people to the old downtown.

"A town center sounds like a new Las Vegas, which competes with downtown, and that's confusing to me," Hunt said Wednesday. "How do they expect to bring millions of people to a downtown that's redeveloped when they're redeveloping another area to take its place?"

But Commissioner Lance Malone, who oversees a portion of the land affected by the project, said the two centers will be distinctly different: One will be for gaming and the other for shopping.

The county is involved in the project because of a recently adopted "seamless" northwest plan shared by both entities.

Malone said before the joint effort, the county and city were separated by a thoroughfare and one side was zoned for commercial and on the other zoned for single-family homes -- uses that aren't compatible.

"To create a seamless master plan, we agreed to adopt the city's plan and the city agreed to adopt ours," Malone said.

Because Las Vegas had already planned the Town Center Project, the county went along with it.

Malone said the purpose of the project, which will be built at the intersection of U.S. Highway 95 and the future site of the Las Vegas Beltway, is so residents in the northwest don't have to make the long commute to the Strip or downtown to find work.

Las Vegas City Council members believe having a core business district with a mix of condominiums and apartments will prevent commercial areas from encroaching on existing neighborhoods.

The County Commission agreed Wednesday to a plan that would move a main thoroughfare through the town center so that it won't affect as many residences. The realignment of El Durango Drive also pushes the town center closer to U.S. 95 and away from county ranch homes.

"A lot of this area is in the county," Malone said. "Until the city annexes, we need to be a part of this. We need to protect the rural atmosphere."

Perhaps most upset by the project are residents in the Timber Lake housing development, who soon will live in a neighborhood island surrounded by a commercial district. Their homes will also be near the beltway-U.S. 95 interchange, which is expected to be 60 feet high and larger than the Spaghetti Bowl.

Malone and Commissioner Mary Kincaid, who have been working closely with Las Vegas City Council members, have scheduled a town hall meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Santa Fe Hotel-Casino to discuss the project with residents.

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