Friday, November 21, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

James vows to vote against Red Rock tower

Other commissioners mum about Station's 300-foot proposal

Station Casinos training manager Jason Gardner speaks at a Thursday afternoon rally organized by the company in support of the proposed Red Rock Station in Summerlin. Gardner, who works at the Fiesta Henderson, said the project would create jobs at the 67-acre site along West Charleston Boulevard, near the beltway. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Clark County Commissioner Mark James said Thursday he will oppose construction of Station Casinos' planned 300-foot hotel tower within his northwest Las Vegas district.

James is the first commissioner to publicly state a position on the $400 million to $500 million Red Rock Station proposal and probably will play a key role in framing the panel's decision.

Members of the seven-person County Commission often give more weight to the opinions of their colleagues whose districts are directly affected by individual proposals.

"I can't support it because it would be too intense for that area," James said. "I just think a 300-foot tower is going to be too tall. It's not consistent with the expectations of the people who moved in there."

He spoke of his decision on a day that saw 50 supporters of the proposed hotel-casino gather for an afternoon rally at the Summerlin site along West Charleston Boulevard, just east of the Las Vegas Beltway.

The 4 p.m. event organized by Station Casinos executives featured speeches by neighbors, union workers and company employees. The project would be a key piece of developer Howard Hughes Corp.'s planned 400-acre Summerlin Centre urban core.

"To me it means more development, more work," said Elaine Merrill, a local carpenter, who attended the rally.

"I'm looking forward to this thing getting started," said Dick Rasbach, who lives in a nearby subdivision. "The tower doesn't bother me."

The proposed hotel-casino with its 300-foot hotel tower and two 200-foot towers has pitted neighborhood opponents, environmental activists and the region's largest union against Station Casinos, Howard Hughes Corp. and assorted neighbors.

Clark County commissioners are scheduled to hear the plan at a Dec. 3 meeting. They will be asked to OK a zoning change that would permit the towers to exceed a previously approved 100-foot limit. Company executives also want to build 1,500 hotel and timeshare rooms at the site, which is limited to 1,000 rooms.

Neighborhood opponents argue that they were misled by Howard Hughes Corp., saying the company touted a 100-foot hotel tower with 1,000 rooms in sales documents for Summerlin homes. Tom Warden, an executive vice president for the Summerlin developer, said his company has been upfront about the size and scope of any future hotel-casino at the site. But the opponents' claims resonated with James, playing a key role in his decision.

James has met in recent days with players on both sides of the issue and sat down most recently in separate Tuesday meetings with leading neighborhood opponents led by Gabriel Lither and with Station Casinos Executive Vice President Scott Nielson.

Lither, a Las Vegas lawyer who has taken a leading position in organizing Summerlin neighbors said he was "pleasantly surprised" to learn of James' decision.

"I'm very happy he did so now so his opinion is known and on the record," Lither said. "I think that takes a little bit of guts for a politician to come out and do that."

Nielson said he was aware of James' opposition, but the casino company's top lawyer said he is convinced that a James no-vote will not kill the plan.

"I'm trying to listen to what Mark is saying and trying to get all of the (remaining) votes," Nielson said. "I don't think his vote is going to dictate how this project goes."

Nielson said he will continue to meet with Summerlin-area neighbors in pursuit of a compromise, although he declined to say what form that would take beyond possibly postponing the construction of the 200-foot timeshare tower.

"I think we can talk about the (hotel's) tower height," Nielson said. "I'm not saying we're completely inflexible on that."

Commissioners Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, Bruce Woodbury, Rory Reid and Myrna Williams said Thursday that they had not decided how they will vote on the requested zoning changes.

"I just want to hear all sides, what their positions are," Woodbury said. "I'm urging both sides that they ought to be negotiating."

Commissioners Yvonne Atkinson Gates and Chip Maxfield, whose district also includes a portion of Summerlin, failed to return phone messages seeking comment.

Reid noted that it is not unusual for commissioners to defer to the opinions of colleagues whose districts are most affected by a measure being considered by the panel.

"His opinion on this matter is very important," Reid said of James.

Station executives have said they need the 300-foot tower because two 250-foot office towers that could be built by Howard Hughes Corp. on the opposite side of Pavilion Center Drive would block the views from the hotel's upper floors.

Environmentalists complain that the entire Summerlin Centre complex would be a blight on views stretching toward the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area.

Five anti-Red Rock Station activists stood on a street corner across from the afternoon rally. They held a pair of signs touting an opposition Web site.

"I've walked through (Summerlin neighborhoods) and only two people have said they're for the project," said opponent Kim Bennett, who said she and others have collected 1,500 signatures that they will present to commissioners in opposition to Red Rock Station.