Thursday, May 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
County OKs Red Rock restrictions
Ordinance limits development on land Rhodes owns
By FRANK GEARY
REVIEW-JOURNAL
An attorney for Jim Rhodes said the developer may sue Clark County after commissioners approved an ordinance Wednesday to restrict development on 2,400 acres Rhodes owns next to scenic Red Rock Canyon.
"Clearly, we are considering a lawsuit. That was the gist of my presentation," attorney Paul Larsen said after the County Commission's unanimous vote.
The ordinance, presented by Commissioner Mark James, limits construction on land near Red Rock to one house on every two acres, allows clusters of homes in some cases to protect scenic ridge lines, and spells out design standards for homes in the area.
The ordinance was approved two days after Gov. Kenny Guinn signed into state law a bill that mirrors the county's regulations. The legislation, authored by Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, was approved unanimously in both the Senate and the Assembly.
Larsen was the only person who spoke against the ordinance. About a dozen people representing the village of Blue Diamond near the canyon, the Red Rock Audubon Society, the Paiute Indian tribe and the local Sierra Club spoke in favor of it.
If Rhodes doesn't challenge the ordinance in court, Wednesday's vote would conclude a yearlong battle waged to limit development on land that has been used as a mine since the 1920s.
"We are losing all our beautiful mountains and valleys," said Marie Wilson, a member of the Paiute tribe. "I don't want to see more homes up there. I want to see it how it is now."
Larsen told the commission that passage of the zoning law amounts to an unlawful government taking of Rhodes' land.
With all the restrictions on development and the requirements for setting aside open space, the ordinance prevents Rhodes from building on land he purchased in March for $53.8 million, Larsen told the commission.
"The ordinance in its entirety is not designed to impose development standards that are workable. It's designed to preclude development," Larson told the commission.
However, the commission approved the ordinance after the commission's attorney and county staff rebutted Larsen's assertions.
County planner Dave Carlson said a provision of the new law designed to protect ridge lines on Rhodes' land still allows Rhodes to develop about 83 percent of his property.
Chuck Pulsipher, a Planning Department administrator, said the ordinance doesn't land-lock the property, as Larsen argued. The ordinance allows prospective homeowners on the land to use state Highway 159, but it doesn't allow Rhodes to provide additional access to his land from the road, Pulsipher said.
Rob Warhola, the commission's planning and zoning lawyer, said "This ordinance does not constitute a taking."
