Trash plan pulled amid furor

After neighbors of a proposed garbage transfer station squawked publicly this week and captured their Clark County representative's attention, Silver State Disposal yanked the related item from the Thursday agenda of the Planning Commission.

"We want emotions to die down," Silver State spokesman Keith Lynam said of the company's decision to pull the request indefinitely. "We want to meet with residents."

But Silver State's action didn't discourage nearly 200 residents from cramming the commission chambers Thursday night, hoisting signs and wearing T-shirts protesting the transfer station.

It simply fed their fury.

"We're not going to cool down," Teller, half of the Penn and Teller comedy/magic team, said. He recently built a multimillion-dollar home in Blue Diamond.

"We will buttress our case. We'll provide photos. We'll provide more information to show this is not an appropriate place for a transfer station."

Silver State purchased a 12-acre lot on Gary Avenue just south of the intersection of Blue Diamond Road and Rainbow Boulevard. The parcel bumps up against light industrial businesses and an auto salvage yard, but it also is adjacent to a rural neighborhood with lots no smaller than a half-acre.

Lynam said earlier this week that the company needs facilities near neighborhoods so truck drivers can pick up their loads and drive a short distance to a transfer station, cutting down on gas costs.

Silver State President Stephen Kalish said he hopes the company can alleviate residents' concerns by proving the area is ideal for a transfer station.

"It remains Republic Silver State's position that the proposed site is compatible with the area's existing zoning and current industrial uses," Kalish said.

The county Planning Commission changed the zoning from residential to industrial, but Silver State is requesting zoning that allows heavier industry, such as the transfer facility.

Residents, who opted to build their homes in eastern Clark County because they were told the neighborhood atmosphere would be preserved, are not confident that meetings with Silver State will be productive.

Several neighbors met informally with Silver State officials and County Commissioner Erin Kenny for three hours on Wednesday afternoon.

Blue Diamond resident Richard Swearingen said that, although everyone tried to be courteous at the meeting, it sometimes became contentious. "We tried to listen quietly. They got angry and said they were not there to decide where to move this thing, they just wanted to stop misinformation."

Thursday night, after the commission announced that the issue of the transfer station had been deleted from the agenda, Planning Commissioner Virginia Valentine, who is also the city manager of Las Vegas, told those filling the chambers that a master plan for the area had yet to be completed.

"We're a fast-growing community and we have outgrown our land-use guide," Valentine said. "We need to look at the proper uses for that property."

Although Valentine was the only commissioner to offer an opinion on the situation at Thursday's meeting -- Kenny did not attend -- her statement didn't sit well with residents in attendance.

"They have people who have invested their life and dreams in their property," Swearingen said. "They shouldn't have to bear the brunt of the government's shortsightedness.

"We've been hearing about growth for five years, and they're acting like it's news to them."

Silver State officials said that once garbage was collected from residences, it would be hauled to the transfer station where it would sit for no longer than eight hours. The trash would then be taken to the regional landfill at Apex.

Miffed, Teller said he and his neighbors were told at Wednesday's meeting with Kenny and Silver State officials that the facility would have a state-of-the-art design that would raise the property values of homes surrounding it.

"Bringing in a garbage dump will improve our neighborhood -- improve it. It's going to increase our property values," Teller said in disbelief.

"Postponing this meeting (the Thursday agenda item on the transfer station) is a ploy. She (Kenny) has got to go."

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