Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 | 11:19 a.m.
Developers of a proposed community on the top of Blue Diamond Hill got a rough, raucous and generally hostile reception Wednesday night as they detailed their plan to build thousands of homes next to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
Executives with John Laing Homes, Quadrant Planning President Calvin Champlin and their consultants answered dozens of questions, but did not appear to change any minds in the crowd of about 130 -- all of whom seemed to oppose the project, and the Clark County approval it would need to move forward.
The project's concept plan calls for up to 8,400 homes and 20,000 people on 3,000 acres tucked into the Red Rock conservation area and Bureau of Land Management property. It would be built on what is now a privately owned in-holding amid the federal land, the site of about 80 years of mining by gypsum companies, most recently James Hardie Gypsum.
About a year ago, James Hardie announced the sale of its mining area for $50 million -- depending on federal and local regulatory approval of the development.
The developers spoke at a meeting of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council in the village of Blue Diamond -- a tiny town with a population of about 300 that would be just about a mile away from the proposed community. While many in the crowd came from Blue Diamond, others came from throughout the Las Vegas Valley, motivated by concern that the project would affect the recreation and environment in and near Red Rock Canyon.
Blue Diamond residents said the project would overwhelm their schools, roads and services. Bicycling enthusiasts said they feared traffic would make their popular trips to Red Rock riskier.
Political candidates and sitting politicians, including state Sen. Dina Titus, attended the meeting and said they feared the impact that the project would have on the environment.
Champlin, who designed the concept for Cielo Encantado, spent much of the evening trying to calm fears that the project would destroy Blue Diamond and the conservation area.
"There is no question that the project is going to have a significant impact on the area," he said. "Obviously there are many concerns. These are going to have to be worked out in the process... What we're hoping to achieve is something that you folks are comfortable with and that won't mess up your lifestyle.
"John Laing is a very responsible developer. We will find ways to preserve this area."
Among the ways the developers are looking to preserve the character of the area is to hide most of the development inside a mined-out valley on top Blue Diamond Hill. To make the most of the available land and to help hide the development from the Red Rock Canyon scenic loop, the developers hope to trade land with the BLM. The trade also would protect habitat for the Blue Diamond cholla, a rare cactus.
While the developers said they need the land swap to build the community the way they have planned, the swap concept actually predates the proposed development plan. James Hardie Gypsum and the BLM and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been discussing a trade for the better part of a decade.
But the land swap raised concerns by many of those attending the meeting of a conflict of interest.
G.C. Wallace Inc., an engineering and architectural company, is contracted by the BLM to do the feasibility study of the swap. The same company is working for James Hardie and is a consultant to John Laing Homes for the Cielo Encantado project.
"I'm appalled that you even came here without giving out that information," said Lisa Mayo, a Spring Valley resident who opposes the project. She said the overlapping roles were "a clear conflict of interest."
Engineer Don Haselhoff said his company did nothing wrong. As engineers, he said, the company is not involved with the political question of whether to approve the project.
He said G.C. Wallace operated with "honesty and integrity" throughout its work.
BLM Red Rock Manager Tim O'Brian and BLM realty specialist Sharon Di Pinto, who attended the meeting, said that until Wednesday night they were unaware that G.C. Wallace worked on the different but associated projects.
O'Brian and Di Pinto said they could not immediately say if the issue is a conflict, but the management at the BLM office in Las Vegas will discuss the matter today.
The project is a long way from becoming a reality. The Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council will formally recommend approval or denial of needed county authorization Aug. 28. But the council's role is advisory only.
The project will go before the Clark County Planning Commission for another advisory vote before going to the Clark County Commission for actual approval, possibly as early as September. Approval from the commission also comes in steps, including an OK of the conceptual plan, development agreement and development plan.
Champlin said he would not expect final approval from the county commission -- assuming it comes at all -- until next March at the earliest.
If approval does come, it could be at least a decade before the community is completely built out, developers said.
Still unanswered is the feasibility of the land swap with the BLM, which the developers say they need. Di Pinto said the BLM should have a completed feasibility study done by the end of the year. The swap, however, would have to be approved by the BLM's leadership in Washington.
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