One of two apartment complexes approved for Town Center area

The Las Vegas City Council said yes to one proposed apartment project adjacent to Timber Lake in the Northwest Las Vegas Town Center and no to another planned apartment complex that also abuts the controversial family housing development.

The council's approval Wednesday of a rezoning request sets the wheels in motion for Becker and Sons developers to build 352 apartments and a 69,500-square-foot commercial development on nearly 33 acres on the south side of Deer Springs Way, west of Conough Lane.

The denial of another rezoning request will force A.G. Spanos Properties to submit new designs or take the city to court if they want to build a 328-unit apartment complex and 24,000-square-foot commercial project on nearly 25 acres on the northeast corner of Durango Drive and Deer Springs Way.

Amid the two proposed projects sits Timber Lake on Deer Springs Way and Durango Drive. Residents there in the last year have expressed anger over such development, saying that when they bought their homes they were not informed of the Town Center project and all that comes with it.

They fear their quiet neighborhood, which includes many homes with horse ranches, will be sitting in the middle of an area surrounded by offices, shopping districts, apartments and the west leg of the under-construction Las Vegas Beltway.

The vote on both requests was 4-0 with Councilman Arnie Adamsen abstaining because he owns property within two miles of the sites. Council members said prior to the votes that their goal is to provide something unique that will not be so obtrusive to existing residents.

In approving the Becker project rezoning from "undeveloped" and "Town Center" zones to a "planned development" zone, council members praised Barry Becker for working with the city staff to create a project that is compatible with the suburban mixed-use plans for the area.

Becker's proposal calls for the commercial portion of the project to serve as a buffer to the existing residential area to the west. The apartments would be east of the commercial land.

The Becker project must still come before the city Planning Commission and City Council for final site review. Area residents could attempt to defeat it if the apartments or commercial properties do not meet the standards of the Town Center project.

In denying the Spanos project, Mayor Jan Laverty Jones told representatives of the developer they were proposing a project that is not compatible with the general plan and that they were, in effect, telling the council that this is how they will build the project or it won't be built.

The Spanos parcel, unlike the Becker parcel, is located in what the city calls an urban mixed-use area. That means that the developer has to build apartments atop single-story office or commercial developments.

Representatives of the developer told the council that they have built 67,000 residential units in the valley and could not see a "viable market" for the type of apartments the city wants built there.

The owners of the land -- George LaForge, David and Michelle Miller and Randall and Jeanne Aleman -- had sought to change the zoning from "residential estates" and "general commercial" to "planned development."

The Town Center plan, conceived in 1996 for about 2,600 acres, was introduced following a moratorium enacted in February on new development in that area. Construction is expected to begin this year and take 15 to 20 years to build out.

By creating a consolidated business district for what has become the fastest growing part of the Las Vegas Valley, the city hopes to discourage strip malls and other commercial ventures from being built close to residential areas.

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