Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Ward 2 meeting on open space ordinance draws a large, frustrated crowd

Open Space Town Hall

Miranda Alam / Special to the Sun

Hilarie Grey speaks at a town hall meeting hosted by Las Vegas Councilwoman Victoria Seaman at the Sahara West Library on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019.

Open Space Town Hall

Frank Schreck speaks during a town hall meeting hosted by Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman at the Sahara West Library in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019. Launch slideshow »

A town hall meeting Tuesday for Las Vegas Ward 2 residents turned combative as residents expressed their disapproval of Councilwoman Victoria Seaman’s intention to repeal an ordinance concerning the redevelopment of open spaces.

Seaman is proposing to repeal a 2018 ordinance that requires developers to take extra steps to protect neighbors before attempting to develop on golf courses and other open spaces. These steps include holding neighborhood meetings with affected residents, creating a mitigation plan to reduce impacts on schools, traffic and infrastructure, writing a statement outlining alternative uses of the open space and authoring a closure maintenance plan to secure the land prior to redevelopment.

Seaman wants to keep the requirement that developers hold one public meeting with affected parties, but maintains that the other aspects of the ordinance are excessively burdensome for developers looking to build homes or other structures on formerly open spaces. Of the approximately 80 people at the meeting, none publicly expressed support for repealing the current ordinance or for Seaman’s proposed new ordinance.

While the meeting began with a presentation from Planning Director Robert Summerfield about the differences and similarities between the current ordinance and Seaman’s proposed new rules, it devolved into heated exchanges and confrontations between residents and Seaman. Even as Seaman thanked residents for attending and told them she would take their concerns under consideration, she grew visibly frustrated by some commenters, demanding that they show her respect.

At one point, she threatened to shut down the meeting if some residents continued to speak over one another and accuse her of bias.

“All of you came here to scream at our team. You have no interest in listening,” Seaman said.

Most of those who were in attendance live in Ward 2's Queensridge community near Summerlin, which is embroiled in a years-long fight over the future of a shuttered golf course known as the Badlands. Las Vegas-based developer EHB Companies is seeking to build hundreds of homes on the course, thereby eliminating open space that Queensridge residents say they are entitled to through their master plan.

EHB has sued the city multiple times for impeding its plans and on other grounds, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation fees. Seaman says she wants to change the open space ordinance to protect the city and taxpayers from further litigation.

“I’m not doing it for anyone or anything other than that we’re in a lot of litigation,” Seaman said. “I got elected, came in and am doing what I can for the city, for the taxpayers.”

Yet residents accused Seaman of putting the interests of EHB Companies before those of her constituents, with some demanding to know how repealing the ordinance and replacing it with something less stringent is in the public interest.

“You said you talked to the attorney, the city planner and all these other people, but the people you did miss is all of us. So, I’m hoping that you’re actually listening to the people here,” said Queensridge resident Stephen Calogero.

Some residents questioned why Seaman wants to repeal the previous ordinance, which was approved in two parts by the City Council in May and November 2018, rather than amend it. According to Summerfield, city staff spent more than six months researching how communities across the country have addressed the issue of former open spaces and golf courses being turned into infill development. 

Queensridge resident Ron Iversen noted that Seaman's proposed new ordinance would not require anyone to take notes about the contents of public meetings, as is required under the existing ordinance. Her ordinance also changes the definition of open space, seemingly removing the requirement that master planned communities must include open space in order to be approved by the city, another resident noted. 

“One of the reasons we’re so upset is because we fought for this ordinance, we got behind this, we went to the meetings with Robert (Summerfield) and his staff to try to make this the best that we could,” Iversen said. “Now, all of a sudden, within a couple months of you coming in, without amending what’s there, you’re repealing.”

Seaman was elected in June, replacing former Ward 2 Councilman Steve Seroka, who publicly opposed redevelopment of the Badlands golf course and was instrumental in passing the current open space ordinance. Prior to Seroka's resignation in March, Seaman pushed to recall Seroka over his handling of the Badlands issue.

Terry Strong, whose property abuts the closed Silverstone Golf Course that is also in the process of being redeveloped, implored Seaman to consider that the ordinance does not just impact Badlands residents, but anyone who lives near a park or golf course.

“You’ve got a whole bunch of people in Las Vegas that live on golf courses. There are two that are closed right now. That doesn’t mean there won’t be 10 next year if you let these guys get away with what they’ve done at Badlands and Silverstone,” Strong said.

Seaman said that residents’ comments did not persuade her to change her proposal. The purpose of the meeting was to inform residents about how the repeal of the current ordinance will impact the ward and the city, she said. 

“I wanted them to have an opportunity to show them exactly what we’re doing,” Seaman said.

The Las Vegas City Council will vote on the repeal of the current open space ordinance at the Jan. 15 regular council meeting. Seaman’s proposed new ordinance will be voted on at some point in January.