You gotta love Boulder City. I manage to find an excuse to go there every couple of months and I enjoy it every time.

Want a break from the hellbent pace and relentless clatter of Las Vegas? Boulder City is the antidote.

To give you an idea of its charm, Boulder City is the kind of place where motorists slow down for pedestrians crossing the street. It's the kind of place where coffee shop waitresses ask if you want "the usual." Boulder City recently outlawed gated communities because they detract from general neighborliness.

Boulder City has set itself up as the anti-Vegas. Gambling is not allowed (the grocery stores are eerily quiet), and taverns are few and far between. There's not much going on in Boulder City after 10 p.m., unless the high school game runs into overtime.

This old-fashioned community, however, is under pressure. Las Vegas is growing like mad and looking to sprawl in all directions. Developers want acreage, big chunks of it, ready-made for the ubiquitous master-planned community.

The federal government owns most of the land surrounding Las Vegas. Slowly, cautiously, the Bureau of Land Management is selling pieces of it for development, but the agency isn't moving fast enough for the hungry builders.

Boulder City, it turns out, is flush with raw real estate, thanks to the city's acquisition of 107,000 acres of federal land in 1995 at the fire sale price of $12 per acre.

But unlike Las Vegas, Boulder City is not addicted to growth. It saw the acquisition of Eldorado Valley desert more as a buffer against encroaching sprawl than an opportunity to build, build, build.

Boulder City has a controlled growth ordinance under which the population cannot expand by more than 3 percent per year. The city also has an ordinance requiring voter approval to sell an acre or more of city-owned land.

Residents are not apathetic about the fate of their community. They read the City Council agenda the same way Las Vegans check the Friday movie listings or their slot club newsletter. And if they notice that somebody's trying to mess with their domestic tranquility, they'll show up at City Hall and speak up about it.

In short, Boulder City is a tough nut for the growth lobby to crack.

And yet, the pressure is increasing. The most serious proposal comes from developer Larry Canarelli, who wants to build a 3,800-home planned community on 700 acres in the Eldorado Valley, just outside Boulder City. Canarelli needs the Clark County Commission's approval to build, but he's met resistance from Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, a longtime Boulder City resident.

The commission agreed to a moratorium on construction in the Eldorado Valley through 2006. But at the same time the commission appears sympathetic to Canarelli's expressed desire to build affordable housing for teachers, nurses and firefighters.

Boulder City is pursuing a complicated land swap that would thwart Canarelli's plan. It calls for a three-way exchange involving Canarelli, Boulder City and the BLM. The city would take control of Canarelli's land, while giving up land to the BLM and acquiring parcels in Las Vegas to give to Canarelli. Officials say the city's plan has a 50-50 chance, at best, of becoming reality.

The other proposal on the table comes from local activist Sherman Rattner, who suggests selling off the city's 107,000 acres in the Eldorado Valley for big bucks and doling out 90 percent of the proceeds to every man, woman and child living in the town. He estimates each of Boulder City's 15,200 residents could receive $1 million or more.

Rattner might be right. The way land prices are going these days, developers certainly would pay billions for this choice acreage.

But Boulder City as we know it would be destroyed in the process.

Boulder City residents can and should reject Rattner's get-rich-quick scheme if it reaches the November ballot. While the windfall sounds intriguing, it's far from certain to happen the way Rattner envisions it. (Just imagine the lawsuits over residency.) And if it were to happen, all the newbie millionaires soon will want to move away from the construction dust, traffic jams and crime that will become the hallmarks of the new Boulder City.

As for Canarelli's affordable housing plan, it also sounds appealing from a purely economic standpoint.

Home prices in Las Vegas have increased to the point that it's become very difficult to recruit the vital professionals, such as teachers and nurses, needed in the community.

But guess what: That's not Boulder City's problem. Boulder City has always stood apart from Las Vegas. It is not contributing to the teacher or nurse shortage. It is a unique place in Nevada, and its charms shouldn't be sacrificed at the altar of Las Vegas growth.

Boulder City can control only what happens within its boundaries, so ultimately it is at the mercy of the County Commission on the Canarelli project.

If the city's land swap idea can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction, that could be an ideal result. But if not, the County Commission should continue to honor Boulder City's wishes as it considers development proposals on the city's edge.

Geoff Schumacher (gschumacher@reviewjournal.com) is the Stephens Media Group's director of community publications, which includes oversight of the weekly Boulder City View. His column appears Sunday.