Commercial development OK'd for Town Center

The Las Vegas City Council approved plans for a 165-acre commercial development in Town Center on Monday without considering its most controversial element -- signs.

Although residents and Olympic Nevada Inc. developers came prepared to discuss three 90-foot signs, the lengthy debate sparked questions about everything from the number of trees to the future construction of the Las Vegas Beltway.

Monday's hearing began with revelations even the sign opponents had not heard. The developer's landscaping proposal did not meet the Town Center standards, as they had previously stated.

City staff and representatives for the developer squabbled over elements they each believed either complied or failed to comply with the standards.

"To me this is really a question of the spirit of the law," Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said.

Residents in the city's northwest area have supported the plans for the 2,000-acre Town Center as a way to manage future growth and preserve the rural integrity of the neighborhood.

The standards were implemented last year as a guide to ensure the developments within Town Center meet higher expectations than traditional projects.

When Olympic Nevada's plans for the Centennial Centre were first outlined, residents protested the request for three 90-foot signs along U.S. 95 and the future alignment of the beltway.

Developers said the 90-foot signs were allowed under the city's zoning code, which says signs can be 30 feet taller than the existing grade of the road. When the beltway is constructed, the signs would have to be 90 feet tall to reach over the road elevations.

"Ninety-foot signs are not within the intended spirit of the area," said Frank Maxwell of the Sheep Mountain Homeowner's Association.

Centennial Centre is planned as an open-air shopping center, including seven auto dealerships, three anchor stores, restaurants and a trail system.

A number of people in the audience clapped loudly whenever the developer made a point or when someone spoke on behalf of the signs. Residents then alleged the "new faces" at the meeting were only there to put pressure on the council to approve the plan.

The sign plan and the landscaping plan will come back before the council May 10.

The sign plan includes a compromise that calls for two of the signs to be no taller than 79 feet.

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