Wednesday, July 31, 2002 | 10:33 a.m.
The Clark County Commission could receive plans for a huge new multibillion-dollar development in the vicinity the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area within two months, the biggest step in what promises to be a very contentious process.
Developer John Laing Homes and community designer Quadrant Planning hope to have the concept plan for the 3,000-acre community before the Clark County Commission on Sept. 18, a little more than a month after the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council takes a formal look at the concept.
The project could eventually bring more than 8,400 homes and 21,000 people to the area surrounding Blue Diamond, a sleepy town of about 300.
Developers say the project makes environmental sense for what is one of the largest tracts of private property in the region.
But the project has some Blue Diamond and nearby residents concerned. They say development could harm the environment and scar scenic views in the area.
"Cielo Encantado," the moniker of the proposed community, is Spanish for "enchanted sky." The upscale development would sit above most of the Red Rock conservation area and the small town. The development would mostly be on private property -- what is now the James Hardie Gypsum mine.
"They are moving it at such a fast track," said Evan Blythin, chairman of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council, which advises the county commissioners on land use issues affecting Red Rock, Blue Diamond and nearby areas.
"There's tremendous odor emanating from all of this," he said. "It's going through the Clark County development process, from the staff, through the planning commission to the commissioners, in a matter of weeks.
"A good public servant would have looked at this document and said no right away."
Blythin is critical of a crucial part of the development plan: a swap of about 500 acres that now belongs to James Hardie Gypsum for about 1,000 acres of federal Bureau of Land Management property. The swap would give the developers, who have yet to conclude the purchase of the James Hardie property, an uninterrupted block of land to build on.
Rex Wells, assistant field manager for the BLM in Las Vegas, said the swap would make sense for his agency as well, since it would bring environmentally sensitive private property to the public.
Wells said that no land would be exchanged without extensive public involvement, including open meetings to discuss the proposal. The agency is now doing feasibility studies on the wisdom of a swap, he said.
The agency has environmental concerns that could justify the move. Some of the targeted land to be swapped to the government is home to the Blue Diamond cholla, a rare cactus that grows only on Blue Diamond Hill.
But Blythin said the deal would trade land that the developer cannot use for pristine BLM property that could be protected.
Other residents say the project would destroy the approaches to Red Rock Canyon, a favorite weekend getaway for thousands of Las Vegas residents and visitors.
"Las Vegas is sprawling out in all directions," said Blue Diamond resident and Sierra Club member Sandy Finley. "This has to be stopped. We have to preserve this area."
The opponents say they expect the fight to be a tough one.
The project is potentially massive even by Southern Nevada standards. At $200,000 a home, the project would involve $1.7 billion in improved real estate.
The potential development figure dwarfs the still significant $100 million-plus that the developer would spend to bring water, sewers and roads -- including a four-lane highway -- to the area from the Las Vegas Valley, said Paul Kenner, a John Laing Homes vice president.
If John Laing Homes gets regulatory approval from the county and the BLM, the company would pay the gypsum mine owners $50 million.
Kenner said that talks with both agencies are going well. The company's concept plan shows some homes in place by 2004, with full water and sewer use in place three years later.
"The concept plan is probably a little aggressive," he said of the timing for the project. He knows that some in Blue Diamond -- and likely in the Las Vegas Valley as well -- will oppose the project because of its proximity to Red Rock.
But the company is working to overcome those fears, Kenner said. The project will have an environmental impact, he said -- but Kenner said the development will have less impact than continued mining would have.
Mining is the future of the property if it is not developed residentially, he said.
"I think as people understand the project and they see how this piece of property has been mined for 80 years, I think generally they'll feel that if done right, it will be incredible," Kenner said.
"We still need to show them how that will happen."
The results are far from written in stone, Kenner said. The process will involve listening to people's concerns and, where possible, mitigating any impact the project will have on Blue Diamond, Red Rock and the people and environment surrounding the project, he said.
Calvin Champlin, a longtime local planner and president of Quadrant Planning, said he has designed the project to minimize those impacts. Utilities and the principal road will come up from the east, or valley, side of the hilltop, he said.
Also, ridgelines will obscure lights from the houses on top of the hill from viewers at Blue Diamond and the Red Rock scenic overlook, Champlin said.
Houses, schools and other development would essentially occur within a valley on top of the heavily mined hill, he said. The ridges on the edge of that valley would preserve most of the views from Red Rock, Blue Diamond and the Las Vegas Valley, Champlin said.
"We're trying to (have) as little impact (on) the western side as possible," he said. "We're going to construct away from the Blue Diamond area."
"Our feeling and our attempt is to be considerate and conscientious about the sensitivities in that area," Kenner agreed. "We've tried to keep as much open space as possible. Over one-third we'll leave entirely natural."
Those protestations do not mollify Blythin, who has served for years as sort of an unofficial mayor of Blue Diamond.
He said the timetable to move forward on the concept plan is unrealistic. The company is scheduled to present the plan to the Red Rock advisory board Aug. 14, and vote to recommend approval or rejection of the concept two weeks later.
Blythin pointed out that the project "build-out" population for the entire northwest part of Clark County, which includes Blue Diamond and Red Rock, is for about 9,500 people. The population for the area is now about 3,000, according to county estimates.
"I am not about to move in two weeks on a project this large with this many ramifications," Blythin said. "This is something that everyone needs to consider very, very carefully."
Finley agreed, arguing that the ultimate impact needs to be considered. Even if homes are not directly visible, the light pollution from the project would affect Red Rock Canyon, she said.
"It is going to be a permanent scar on the viewshed," Finley said. "The light that it is going to give off is going to destroy the whole atmosphere of the canyon."
Not everyone in the area shares the same depth of feeling. Albert Hartmann, a Red Rock advisory board member who lives a few miles south of Blue Diamond, said he would prefer to see 800 homes and a golf course instead of 8,000 homes.
Hartmann said he still has some concern over the impact on wildlife in the area. But the newest concept plan for the development resolves one of his biggest concerns -- where the water would come from.
Hartmann said he was concerned that drawing groundwater to support the development would dry up wells for residents in the Blue Diamond area. The developers hope to get their water from the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
Blythin, however, said as more people in Blue Diamond and Las Vegas learn of the proposed development, more are calling him to register their concern.
He said people are planning a protest at the Red Rock scenic overlook to let the county commissioners know that they are watching the issue.
And the Red Rock advisory board may vote to recommend expanding the Red Rock conservation area to include what is now the gypsum mine -- a proposal that as of now is not even on the BLM's radar.
But Blythin said the Clark County Commissioners are the ones with most of the power in this situation.
"The commissioners can run right over us," he said. Blythin said the long-term impact of building a huge development in the middle of a conservation area must be considered.
"I think this is one that will haunt everybody that touches it," he said."
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