Sunday, May 11, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: John L. Smith

No shortage of populists in debate over Red Rock development

Populism is busting out at Red Rock, Southern Nevada's last good place.

You can't throw a stone these days without hitting a concerned citizen, elected official or a developer's paid representative.

They're spitting mad at each other, but they all claim to have the same thing in common. Each wants to preserve the beauty of Red Rock for the people.

Developer Jim Rhodes is in it for the people. He plans to turn the ugly scar that is the Hardie Gypsum mine on Blue Diamond Hill into the most beautiful planned community in the world -- or at least in the immediate area. In his vision, the thousands of houses, lake, shopping center, amphitheater, equestrian park and bicycle track he'll build will resemble a cross between Italy's Lake Como and the Tuscan countryside.

Or at least a hilltop in Summerlin.

Nevada's brace of U.S. senators are also in it for the people. Once Rhodes' plan grew contentious -- as enormous projects built on the edge of national conservation areas do even in Nevada -- Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign sprang into action. They quickly offered a plan to buy out the politically connected Rhodes, who in March paid $53.8 million for 2,450 acres.

"I don't know why I would want to sell this piece of property," he says, but allows, "I haven't seen the offer yet."

For those keeping score, Rhodes has known Ensign since high school. Rhodes employs former Reid aide Bill Marion and former County Commissioner Erin Kenny on his Blue Diamond PR team. Rhodes is no dummy.

A majority of members of the County Commission, which in recent years has done everything for Rhodes except play for his company softball team, appeared ready to conflict themselves into the slobbering fits to please the developer. But that was before state Sen. Dina Titus emerged at the Legislature with a plan to effectively halt dense development of the Blue Diamond Hill property by limiting the current zoning. Now the commission has rushed to endorse the U.S. senators' plan to buy out Rhodes using federal land sale dollars.

Commissioner Mark James is my favorite populist in this story. When the discussion began, he pushed to have NIMBY Blue Diamond residents negotiate with Rhodes. When it got hotter, James decided he was against the project but favored local control of the decision. When it began to boil, James found himself being accused of ethical breaches by Rhodes, who previously had retained him as an attorney and had sold a personal home to the commissioner.

Finally, there's Titus, who is pushing her plan in Carson City and reminds anyone who'll listen that there's only one Red Rock. She's talking about Red Rock the delicate high-desert environmental zone, not Red Rock the amenity for homebuilders and shopping center magnates.

Titus is accused by Rhodes in a multimedia advertising campaign of a variety of sins, but her story hasn't changed: She wants to make the Blue Diamond land so hard to develop that he sells out.

All of which finds Rhodes in an enviable position. One scenario: Someone hands him an eye-popping check. Another: Someone swaps him for a vast tract of more accessible real estate. A third: He is approved to build a shining city on a hill.

Forget for now that continued massive development on the edge of the Red Rock National Conservation Area will turn it into a glorified city park and crush the environment with too much traffic, noise, light, and people. Never mind that Rhodes admits it will take nine pumps to push the necessary water up that hill. Or that the land reclamation is bound to cost millions. Or that an attempt by a previous developer, Laing Homes, was shouted down by Blue Diamond residents and environmental spoilsports.

Forget, too, that if an average guy buys a piece of land he can't develop, he's forced to eat it one pebble and cactus spine at a time.

Clearly, Jim Rhodes is not an average guy.

It's a good thing he's in it for the people.

But just in case, take a picture of Red Rock.

At the rate it's being preserved, it's all you'll have left to show your grandkids of Southern Nevada's last good place.

John L. Smith's column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.