Residents continue fight against industrial neighbors

Stay out.

That was the sentiment expressed by many residents of the Calico Ridge community in Henderson towards industrial developers at last night's Citizens Advisory Committee meeting.

Wednesday's meeting, which drew close to 100 residents and other onlookers to Henderson's Convention Center, was the latest attempt by the CAC to work out a compromise between developers of land zoned for industrial use and the surrounding neighborhoods.

The proposed industrial land has had Calico Ridge residents up in arms because it could come as close as 20 feet to some homes, since no buffer area exists for the community.

Calico Ridge, which was built in the 1980s on the south side of Henderson near Lake Mead Drive and Olsen Street, was developed 40 homes at a time, thus requiring no green areas such as parks, or land set aside to buffer residential from already-zoned industrial areas.

Despite the large turn out for the meeting, the crowd only occasionally burst into applause or resorted to yelling comments out of turn--a far cry from the August 26 meeting, which repeatedly deteriorated into shouting matches between angry residents and frustrated CAC members.

While a calmer mood prevailed this time around, the feelings of many residents hadn't changed.

"We have a beautiful community here, and we don't want any more industrial encroachment," said Calico Ridge resident Dianne Wojdon.

Other residents expressed concerns about proposed developments ranging from noise and other pollution, to safety and decreased property values.

"When are you guys going to buy homes in Calico Ridge?," asked one resident, Ray Henningson. "Stay out of there," he added angrily.

Atlas Cold Storage plans to build a 150,000 square-foot storage facility on 7 1/2 acres, next to the already existing Gold Bond ice cream factory, a company spokesman said.

The storage facility would be built in three phases, with the first having a 450-foot buffer area from the nearest homes, said Atlas representative Todd Long.

While some residents seemed satisfied with the buffer distance, many complained that the facility, which could bring in up to 60 diesel trucks a day and contain large amounts of ammonia used for cooling, would cause both noise and safety concerns.

"Their dream will become our nightmare," said resident Terry Nixon about the developers' proposal.

Henderson Councilman David Wood hoped that a middle ground can be found between the residents and the developers.

"There would be different standards for building a community today than there was in the 1980s when Calico Ridge was built," Wood said. "We can't always change the mistakes of the past, so both sides now have to work out a compromise."

"We are here to help you as much as we can," CAC Chairman Manny Gomez reassured residents. Another meeting on the subject will take place in two weeks.

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