Feds to give county land southwest of airport

Before summer, Clark County will receive from the federal government more than 5,000 acres of land southwest of McCarran International Airport.

"We really don't know exactly when the land transfer will take place," said Jacob Snow, assistant director of aviation-planning at the airport. "But the Bureau of Land Management seems to be in a real hurry to get this transfer over with. We anticipate it will happen before summer."

The transfer is part of about 20,000 acres of federal land ordered sold or transferred in legislation passed last year by Congress. The 5,000 acres around the airport is being given to the county. BLM officials say the legislation calls for the land to be transferred as quickly as possible.

Crews are currently surveying property lines in preparation for the land transfer.

Over the years, the area has been developed in a checkerboard fashion, with privately owned property sprinkled throughout the massive tract of federal land.

Congress ordered the land to be transferred to Clark County, which operates the airport, in order to prevent homes from eventually being developed within the noisy area under the flight paths of aircraft, Snow said.

"Basically, we will not allow any houses, apartments, churches, schools or hospitals to be built in the area because of the aircraft noise," he said. "But I can see that area eventually being developed for commercial purposes."

At least one state legislator is concerned about what the airport may do with the property.

"I don't want to see the airport acting as the developer for this property," said state Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas. "That's not an appropriate role for government. The private sector should do that."

James said his concerns are philosophical. He believes government should refrain from engaging in activities such as land development, which he believes can be better performed by the private sector.

In fact, he said he is considering the introduction of legislation that would restrict the airport's ability to enter into certain types of land development agreements.

For example, the McCarran Airport's Air Cargo Facility functions under an agreement in which the airlines operating the terminal pay rent to the airport in the form of a percentage of the revenues the business generates.

James said this is the type of business agreement he wants to prevent from happening with the land the BLM is giving to the airport.

"What they should do is just sell the land. They shouldn't be out there working as some sort of developer," he said.

When the county sells the land, Snow said, it will be through a competitive bid process.

There are no specific plans under consideration, he said, but he has been receiving calls from potential developers of projects ranging from office buildings to retail space.

Snow declined to identify any of the potential developers.

"Since the Las Vegas Beltway will be going through the land we will be receiving, there is tremendous potential for some of the land to be developed right away," he said.

Neither BLM nor airport officials said they have an estimate on what the market value on the land may be.

"It is hard to come up with an estimate, because some of the land along the beltway will be quite valuable," Snow said. "On the other hand, some of the land out in the middle of nowhere has very little value."

Another complicating factor in developing an estimate, BLM spokesman Phillip Guerrero said, is the prohibition of any type of homes from being built there.

There is no established timeframe for the county to sell the land, Snow added.

"That is really up to the county commissioners to establish," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if we see some buildings going up out there sometime in the next year or two. ... If there is a demand for this land, it doesn't make sense for it not to be sold."

When the county sells land, it must give 85 percent of the revenue to the BLM for the purchase of environmentally sensitive lands elsewhere in Nevada. An additional 5 percent will be contributed to funding public schools.

The remaining 10 percent will be used by the airport to administer the former BLM property and to purchase homes near the airport to mitigate noise conflict, Snow said.

If land within the area is leased by the county, rent revenue will divided the same way, he said.

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