Old development deal, new anxiety in NLV

By Mike Trask

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Twenty years ago, North Las Vegas officials were only too happy for anyone to build almost anything, anywhere, anytime in a city that was hardly a magnet for development.

Now, however, their successors are learning the hard way that what sounded like a good idea in 1988 in a city of less than 50,000 is a less pleasing reality in 2008 in a municipality of 215,000-plus — the nation’s fastest-growing city.

Only days after the City Council approved a 320-apartment project, telling hundreds of opponents packed into the council chamber last week that a 1988 development agreement with Pardee Homes gave the city no choice, another Pardee plan — this one for 660 apartments in the same area — is before the city this week.

Once again the company is telling the city that its 20-year-old promise guarantees the project’s approval. And once again, city officials admit Pardee is probably right. And also once again, residents are outraged.

Last week’s council action authorized a Pardee project at Centennial Parkway and Revere Street. The company’s new proposal calls for 660 apartments at Deer Springs Way and Revere, about a block north. That plan is on today’s Planning Commission agenda but likely will be postponed until May.

Residents opposed to the proposed apartments, however, should not be heartened by the delay, because city officials concede their ultimate decision almost certainly will be the same as last week’s.

Under the city’s 1988 Eldorado community development agreement with Pardee, several vacant parcels were set aside for residential or commercial use.

That agreement, Pardee argues, means the city must give the green light to its apartment plans.

“If council ignores this document, obviously there will be consequences,” Pardee attorney Jennifer Lazovich said at last week’s meeting. At the time, it seemed less a thinly veiled threat than simply a factual statement.

The 1988 pact, most city officials say, ties North Las Vegas’ hands.

City Councilman William Robinson, who was on the council when the 1988 agreement was signed, acknowledged that 20 years ago the city was inexperienced at negotiating such deals. Caught up in the excitement of getting its first major development, North Las Vegas probably made a few too many concessions, Robinson said.

Overall, city leaders are delighted with Eldorado, which has grown to include nearly 15,000 mostly middle-class homes since opening and now is the city’s geographic center. Some of the leaders simply would like to see more single-family homes, not hundreds of apartments.

Robert Fielden, a local urban planner who owns RAFI Architecture, agrees that a 2008 project based on 1988 circumstances “doesn’t make much sense.” But he added that most development agreements do not dissolve until a master-planned community is completed — or its plans abandoned.

The 1988 agreement notwithstanding, Robinson and Councilwoman Shari Buck voted against last week’s 320-unit plan.

“I don’t want apartments there,” said Buck, who lives less than a mile away. “I just don’t think it’s right.”

Robinson was blunt about his opinion of the city’s contractual obligation. “I made two marriage agreements and I broke both of those,” he said.

The city attorney and other council members, however, warned that breaking this contract would lead to a costly and ultimately unsuccessful court battle for the city.

“Why waste the taxpayers’ money?” said Councilman Robert Eliason, who joined Mayor Mike Montandon and Councilwoman Stephanie Smith in approving the plan.

City Attorney Carie Torrence said she doubted a judge would side with the city if it tried to fight Pardee in court. “It would be delaying the inevitable,” Torrence said.

Smith said voting against her constituents’ wishes was difficult. “This is not an issue of where does my heart lie,” she said. “The city signed this contract and I have to uphold it.”

And Montandon stressed that going against the development agreement would make it difficult for the city to negotiate future deals.

Many of those same arguments likely will surface in the debate over the new 660-apartment project.

As displeased as nearby residents are over that plan, they would have been even unhappier if the company’s original proposal — which would have added another 400-unit complex — had proceeded. Although that plan also appears on today’s agenda, Pardee withdrew the project following negotiations with residents and Buck.

Despite legal advice to the contrary, many residents want the city to take the battle to court.

“Three hundred and twenty apartments sounds terrible,” said Sarah Humphreys, a resident who has organized opposition to the projects. “Now 1,000 apartments sounds extremely terrible and you think that maybe 320 was not so bad.”

Following the script that often plays out when apartments are proposed in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, residents complain that the apartments will increase traffic and crime, thereby driving down property values.

Pardee representatives say the project will feature luxury units renting from about $900 for a one-bedroom unit to $1,500 for a three-bedroom. That doesn’t appease residents and some council members.

“Let’s face it. It might go good for five or six years,” Robinson said. “But if it changes ownership it can go bad. Some start being vacant and they’ll rent them to whomever they can.”

Real estate experts say quality apartment complexes will not harm property values, pointing out that apartment projects in Summerlin have blended in well with existing homes.

“They have to build high-end, luxury apartments to blend in with the community,” said Steve Botfeld, a real estate consultant with Marketing Solutions. “If that’s not the way they are going to be developed, the neighbors have the right to be concerned.”

David Salmon, a lawyer who lives in the area, has been collecting affidavits in preparation for a possible suit against Pardee. He said at least 50 people in the area were told by the company’s sales representatives that the proposed apartment site was going to eventually become a park or used for more single-family homes.

Anyone who checked the North Las Vegas master plan or zoning map, though, could have seen apartments were possible.

As the new project begins to weave its way through City Hall, some residents have threatened to begin picketing at Pardee developments throughout Clark County. And Humphreys said she will continue to lead the charge in opposition.

“I think we might have a better chance this time,” she said.