Residents get help with heap

A month after the New Frontier was imploded, some of the debris was hauled to a south valley neighborhood.

Actually, a whole lot of debris.

A pile of rubble stands at least 30 feet tall and stretches roughly the length of a football field at the end of a residential street.

Red Hot Corner, a local company, trucked in 40,000 tons of debris to grind up and sell to a concrete outfit nearby, on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Although the once thriving mobile home park south of St. Rose Parkway has dwindled to three households, the remaining residents made a loud outcry.

The developer building the M Resort nearby chimed in, urging that the hulking mound be removed before the $1 billion casino opens next year.

Their protests gained support from Clark County commissioners, who on Wednesday ordered Red Hot Corner to crush and remove the material within 120 days.

Commissioner Rory Reid scolded company co-owner Scott Weber for dumping rubble in a residential area with no permits initially and no consideration of neighbors. Reid compared it to his 12-year-old son making a fort of rocks where it didn't belong.

"You didn't plan for it very well," Reid said at a commission meeting. "I think that's wrong."

Neighbors pushed for having the debris removed without it being crushed and said they would have to suffer through four months of racket from rock-grinding equipment.

"Us living there and having to endure the crushing of this humongous pile -- I really can't imagine that," said James Cole, 51, who lives with Frances "Jody" Peterson, 83, so that he can help care for her.

To curb disruption, the company will be limited to grinding rocks from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Weber also agreed to pay Peterson $5,000 to rent other lodging during the rock-crushing.

Peterson shook her head, signaling that was not enough money. Cole argued that she would need $10,000 to rent a house with a yard for her two dogs.

Weber said he had tried to act in good faith, sending notices to neighbors late last year that told of his plans for the rubble. He also set up several meetings with them, but they did not show up, he said.

Weber acknowledged that he had no permits when he first stockpiled the debris. He said he did not know that permits were needed until code-enforcement agents told him.

Now he has all of the required permits except one for pulverizing the rocks, Weber said.

"We're in full compliance," he said.

Cole contended that Weber should have never received a permit from the county to run a temporary batch plant because that type of operation must produce concrete or gravel. Weber will make neither and simply will be recycling rubble, Cole said.

Weber applied for a batch plant permit because such businesses can be run in a residential area, unlike a recycling plant, Cole said.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani agreed that crushing rocks smacked of recycling. She said Weber should move the debris as is to another site to crush, even if it costs more money, because he should not profit from disrupting neighbors' lives.

But Commissioner Chip Maxfield countered that trucks will rumble and roar when hauling out the rubble, so the rocks might as well be ground up first.

"It's not going to magically disappear," Maxfield said. "There's going to be noise, there's going to be dust."

The rubble is the latest squabble between Weber and residents. In 2006, his company bought the water rights to a well from the neighborhood association.

Cole contends the sale was unlawful. He said he and Peterson are at the mercy of Weber, who can choke off their water supply at any time.

Weber said that the transaction was legal and that the residents have nothing to worry about.

"We could've cut them off a long time ago," he said, adding that the neighbors are tapping into the water for free.

Cole asked commissioners to restore their water rights.

Reid said that was outside the commission's authority and they should concentrate on restoring the neighborhood to what it was before the debris was brought in.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or (702) 455-4519.