Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

County, Henderson forge annexation deal

An unprecedented interlocal agreement on a proposed annexation project was approved Tuesday by the Clark County Commission and the Henderson City Council, ensuring that county and Henderson planners will work together to develop the area.

The agreement redraws the area Henderson intends to annex to exclude much of the residential area. It also addresses joint land-use planning, future corporation agreements and transportation planning in the Enterprise Township, Assistant County Manager Bonnie Rinaldi said.

"This is what government planning is all about -- planning three to four years ahead," Rinaldi said. "This will allow people to have much less of a traffic problem than we're having in the northwest."

County commissioners told about a half-dozen Enterprise residents opposed to the proposed annexation that the county cannot stop the annexation. Cities are permitted to gobble up unincorporated areas without the county's permission.

They tried to comfort residents who embrace the rural lifestyle of unpaved roads and dark streets, noting that the interlocal agreement is better than nothing.

"Without such an agreement, this is a battle between the city and the property owners," Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury said.

Rinaldi said Henderson and the county have agreed to notify each other of zoning changes in the proposed annexation area, which is south of McCarran International Airport between Bermuda Road and Maryland Parkway and north and south of Lake Mead Drive.

The two entities also agreed to borderless sewer and water systems.

That hardly put Enterprise area residents at ease.

Arthur Ritter said he first learned about the annexation plans during an Enterprise Town Board meeting last week.

"We've been following the bouncing ball since it crashed through our living room window Wednesday evening," he said.

Ritter, whose house is still in the area Henderson wants to annex, said he understood the county has no control over annexation but called county officials "silent partners" in the deal because they supported the interlocal agreement.

Ritter expressed concern that people with business licenses would have to reapply and that homeowners who had building permits but had yet to start their projects would have to go through the process again with Henderson.

Ana Farris, whose home is no longer in the annexation area, said she purchased her home in 1983 when it was surrounded by Bureau of Land Management property. She said the reason she chose the location is because of the quiet, rural atmosphere.

"If I wanted to live in Henderson, I would have bought a home in Henderson," she said. "If Henderson wants to annex our property, it should seriously consider buying our homes at market value."

Woodbury encouraged residents to write state legislators about changing the annexation policies. Until then, he said, he is simply pleased that Henderson was willing to work with the county and agree to drop some chunks of property that were protested loudly by residents. "I'm pleased to see that with Henderson, our opinion matters and the presence of Enterprise residents who attended their meetings mattered," he said.

No one at the Henderson City Council meeting spoke out against the interlocal agreement, which was approved 4-0. Mayor James Gibson, who had to leave the meeting early, was absent for the vote.

City Manager Phil Speight told the council the agreement may be used as a model in the future on how planning disputes should be settled between two governing bodies. "This interlocal agreement does not specifically initiate annexation proceedings," he said. "But it does set forth some commonalities of interest as well as boundaries of where the city and the county can better plan for public services in the area."

Because Henderson officials hope to annex about 5,000 acres, including a large parcel of BLM land southwest of Del Webb's Anthem development near the corner of Lake Mead and Eastern, the council did not address a resolution of intent to annex almost 1,400 acres in Enterprise Township, according to city spokeswoman Vicki Taylor.

The city wants to annex the property, city officials have said, to create an eastern gateway to the city near the exit off Interstate 15, as well as the ability to maintain the Lake Mead Drive corridor.

The areas to be annexed also have changed from the city's original proposal that included the heavily populated Section 33 in Enterprise Township. Instead the city wants to annex sections 26 and 34, still virtually undeveloped.

"The action you take tonight will not infringe on the residents in that area," the city manager said. "It is not the city of Henderson's intent to infringe on any residents and force on them anything that they do not want in the area."

Speight said the staff does not anticipate the city annexing the area until it is ready to move forward with annexing the property west of the Henderson Executive Airport up to Las Vegas Boulevard south of Lake Mead Drive.

The interlocal agreement recognizes existing land uses for Enterprise Township and the southern area plan for the county.

"For the time being, that plan will be laid over these properties until such time as the city does a special area plan ... then the area would come under city planning," Speight said.

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