Calico Ridge residents battle industrial intrusion

The lament is all too familiar.

Homeowners who have lived next to an open patch of desert for up to a decade discover that the property next to them is zoned as something other than residential. So when plans for a convenience or tire store are announced, they confront their local government.

Valley government officials, on the other hand, say it is the responsibility of prospective home buyers to research who their future neighbors might be. From their standpoint, if home buyers don't like what may eventually develop in their backyards, they shouldn't purchase or build a home there.

In other words, caveat emptor.

That's what those living in the Henderson development of Calico Ridge were told when a cold-storage company announced its preliminary plans to build a 150,000-square-foot facility adjacent to their custom homes.

The catch?

Residents say about 62 acres that have remained undeveloped for the past decade are zoned as rural residential like the surrounding area. City officials and the property owners, however, say it is zoned as industrial.

So who is right?

It depends on who is talking.

Bob Reynolds, president of the Calico Ridge Owners Association, says most of his neighbors didn't know the patch of open desert adjacent to their homes was zoned as industrial.

That's because, according to Reynolds, it wasn't.

"That's the dispute," he said. "It is shown on city maps as rural residential, just like the rest of the area. They say it is industrial park."

Reynolds said the property originally was industrial and then was changed to rural residential when the Calico Ridge houses began being built.

But Bristol Ellington, assistant community development director, said that is not true.

"The rezoning of that property to industrial started in 1979," he said. "The residential zoning for Calico Ridge started in 1988."

Ellington admitted, however, that the city made its own mistake on its zoning map of the area, which is why it is considering purchasing 7.7 acres adjacent to Calico Ridge. That acreage is shown on the city's map as residential although it is actually zoned for industrial, he said.

"When it came to our realization that it was improperly shown, we felt it was our responsibility because our map was in error," he said. "But the property to the north that is known as Eagle Rock has always been known as industrial."

And Eagle Rock is where Atlas Cold Storage has approached the city about building its facility on 10 acres sandwiched between the possible city-owned piece and the existing Gold Bond ice cream factory.

Atlas has not submitted a formal application to the city, only a conceptual plan review.

Ellington said city planners have been working with the property owner to include a 25-foot landscaped buffer with a 50-foot setback as well as reducing the proposed height of the Atlas building from approximately six stories.

"Right now they can go as high as a 60-foot building," he said.

Atlas, a Midwest-based company, has tentatively agreed to a maximum 35-foot height as opposed to 60 feet.

"We also are trying to limit some of the intensive uses for the area," Ellington said.

But Reynolds said he and the other homeowners remain adamant about the fact that they do not want to see Atlas move in next door.

"We are dead against it and we have made that pretty clear to the city."

Their concerns, according to Reynolds, include diesel trucks -- an estimated 60 a day -- that would transport large amounts of ammonia used as part of the Atlas cooling system in and out of the facility. In addition to noise, Reynolds said residents are worried about their safety.

"They want to put in a great big building, and it will be very noisy; 60 trucks a day in and out of the place that will be producing a hazardous chemical," he said.

The attorney representing Atlas, Dave Cremons, could not be reached for comment.

The bottom line, according to Ellington, is that the industrial zoning designation was there first.

"When they saw Gold Bond (ice cream plant) out there, they thought that was the only thing going in," he said. "No one checked it out. To assume that's not going to be developed is a big mistake."

The History

When Reynolds moved into his home at 973 Marigold Court, his was one of only two on the block 10 years ago. He said he chose the Calico Ridge development because he had planned to retire somewhere in the Las Vegas Valley and he wanted to be near Lake Mead.

Reynolds, who has been president of the homeowners association since April, also represented the group of 400 homeowners in 1989-90.

Calico Ridge was built in the 1980s on the south side of Henderson near Lake Mead Drive and Olsen Street. Because the subdivision was developed 40 houses at a time, no parks or other green areas were required to act as buffers between homes and the already zoned industrial area -- some of which comes within 20 feet of homes.

So when Atlas Cold Storage submitted its preliminary plans to the City Council, the residents in Calico Ridge expressed their concerns.

The residents drafted a land-use plan that strongly rejects any further industrial development in the Calico Ridge area, located between Lake Mead Drive and Olsen Street.

Instead the plan calls for the formation of a local improvement district, or LID, for the 62 acres in question to be developed into a natural desert habitat and recreational area to compensate for the lack of parks in Calico Ridge.

So the issue was turned over by the council to Henderson's Citizens Advisory Committee, which is tasked with working with residents to submit recommendations on a land-use plan for the city.

Mediator

The issue dominated the committee's twice-monthly meetings as it attempted to work out a compromise between the developers of land zoned for industrial use and neighboring residents.

But in mid-October, Calico Ridge homeowners, who had been meeting with the committee since August, found themselves locked in a stalemate with the industrial property owners.

That's when Lansford Levitt was brought into the fray. Levitt is a professional mediator from Reno who was hired by the city to help everyone involved come to a compromise.

Manny Gomez, chairman of the advisory committee, said after the mediation is complete, the revised plans will be reviewed by the committee and will be included in its final report to the City Council.

"That area is out of our hands for the time being," Gomez said.

Levitt is on vacation until after the holidays and could not be reached for comment.

Reynolds said Levitt's efforts have been appreciated.

"I think he has been the ear the city didn't have tuned to us," he said.

He said the last thing the city offered the residents was 25 feet of open space between the Calico Ridge wall and a landscaped berm in addition to a 25-foot building setback for a total of 50 feet.

Residents, however, want at least 75 feet.

"We don't know where they (city leaders) are at now," Reynolds said. "We don't know if this is the end, if they have given us their last, best deal."

Reynolds said he is in a predicament because the association's membership voted that they wanted the area to remain totally undeveloped or that it be turned into an adult recreation area.

"They didn't want any more development," he said. "They said leave the ice cream plant but no more."

Reynolds added that it is his job to get residents the best deal they can from the city.

Many of the homeowners on the perimeter of the complex fear their property values will decrease if an industrial plant is built next door.

"They fear a ripple effect will climb up the hill," Reynolds said, adding that home values in the complex reach the $250,000 level. "And everyone will lose money."

Reynolds said, however, that he does not have the authority to negotiate for the homeowners, only to talk.

"We've done the best we can do, but at some point the membership has to agree to it," he said. "But I believe in the long haul they realize they are not going to get open space; it's not going to happen."

Ellington, however, said that at the last mediation meeting held in December, the homeowners said it "was all or nothing. They want it (Atlas) gone.

"We came up with some design standards that we thought would work, but the stumbling block is Atlas," he said. "It would be unfortunate if they take the position of all or nothing."

The residents have come back with some counterpoints, Reynolds said, and are waiting for the next mediation meeting.

"I believe the city has assumed the position that the land is zoned industrial and it is going to stay that way," he said. "We understand the city needs industry, but we disagree that it needs to be next to Calico Ridge homes."

Ellington said the city will proceed and "let the cards fall as they may" even if that means a possible lawsuit from the homeowners.

Reynolds said that most of the complex's residents are older, retired and "not on welfare."

"We have people here who are independent and are willing to spend money to hopefully get what they want," he said.

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