Saturday, May 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Assembly sends Red Rock zoning bill to Guinn

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CARSON CITY -- The Assembly unanimously passed a bill Friday that would protect the scenic beauty of Red Rock Canyon by restricting development just outside the national conservation area.

Because the Senate already approved Senate Bill 358 without opposition, the legislation now goes to Gov. Kenny Guinn for his approval or veto. Guinn isn't saying what step he will take.

"I shouldn't make an early decision without reading the exact bill," Guinn said. "I am going to wait until I see it. I am generally disposed to having local people making their own zoning decisions."

Under the bill, sponsored by Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, zoning in the area atop Blue Diamond Hill in Red Rock Canyon would be frozen at the current restriction of one home per two acres. The legislation would thwart attempts by developer Jim Rhodes to build up to 5,500 homes on the hill.

In March, Rhodes bought 2,400 acres just outside the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for $50 million.

Dean Walker, Rhodes' director of land development, said he's disappointed with the decision and thinks lawmakers made a mistake. He said if lawmakers understood the issue, the vote wouldn't have been unanimous.

"Everybody wants to protect Red Rock. That's not the issue here," Walker said. "It's about developing an old mine site that's been there for 87 years. We want to restore it to be something beautiful that would blend in. Right now, it's just an eyesore."

Rhodes owns the site of the old Hardie Gypsum Mine, which was dug up, torn up and blown up for decades. If the land goes undeveloped or is not extensively rehabilitated, it is not fit for public access.

Walker said county zoning matters should not be decided by state legislators.

Assemblyman Chad Christensen, R-Las Vegas, said he believes in home rule, but was persuaded to support the bill after Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams told him the commission wanted the Legislature to approve the bill.

Williams, Titus, members of the Sierra Club and Blue Diamond residents last weekend turned over to the Assembly Government Affairs Committee the signatures of 11,000 people who support the bill.

During the same meeting, hundreds of construction workers, real estate agents and others who were part of a caravan organized by Rhodes showed up to express their opposition to the measure.

Despite a public relations blitz that included newspaper and television advertisements and tours of his property, Rhodes failed to pick up a single vote in the Legislature.

Titus said she was gratified that the vote in both houses was unanimous because critics cannot say the vote was regional or partisan.

"Everyone agrees this is a treasure worth saving," she added. "It shows sometimes money doesn't have its way in politics. This was a grass-roots effort by people against an operator with a lot of money."

Christensen, whose Assembly District 13 includes Red Rock Canyon, said legislators received hundreds of e-mail messages in support of and opposition to the bill.

"The con ones were form letters," he said. "They were an obvious orchestrated effort to kill the bill. The pro ones were more heartfelt, from people with a genuine interest in Red Rock. I am ecstatic about the vote."

He said he remembers riding his 10-speed bike as a child through the Red Rock area and even then feeling the beauty should be preserved for posterity.

"Red Rock is a natural jewel in Southern Nevada like Lake Tahoe is in Northern Nevada," said Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson. "It is important we protect it for future generations. It is an extraordinary destination for tourists and residents alike."

In his quest to develop the land, Rhodes has brought conflict-of-interest allegations against County Commissioner Mark James, sued to prevent James from introducing an ordinance to limit development at the site and attempted to speed development plans before the ordinance could be considered.

County commissioners in turn have asked the federal government to pay Rhodes market value for the land with proceeds from the sale of public acreage. Under a proposal from U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign, the land would be rehabilitated and eventually included in the conservation area.

Pauline Van Betten, who represented the village of Blue Diamond on a committee that helped draft the ordinance the commission is scheduled to consider Wednesday, said she's confident Guinn will sign the bill because of the support it received in both houses of the Legislature.

"This is unbelievable. It's so amazing. I am so excited," she said when told of the Assembly vote.

Van Betten and dozens of her neighbors have been the core of the opposition to development near Red Rock. Their battle began last year when California-based developer John Laing Homes proposed building 8,400 homes on the acreage that Rhodes purchased in March.

Their grass-roots effort included the establishment of a Web site, the creation of buttons and bumper stickers with the logo "Save Red Rock," a petition drive, bake sales and other fund-raising events.

"When you think of those meetings, where we tried to decide how big the bumper stickers should be, you wouldn't have thought it would turn into a state law and a proposed county ordinance," Van Betten said.

Evan Blythin, chairman of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council, said the decision was the right one for all Southern Nevada residents, not just residents of nearby Blue Diamond.

The victory, he said, was fueled by the public's love of Red Rock, but also by the community's anger and anxiety over County Commission-approved zoning changes such as the one Rhodes would need to build more than one home on every two acres.

"This came along at the right time. We did have everybody on our side, and it wasn't just because of Red Rock. It was because of all the zone changes that were approved before it," Blythin said.

Review-Journal writers Frank Geary and Joelle Babula contributed to this report.