Controversial Badlands Golf Course development on 90-day hold

Strife is lingering among Queensridge homeowners who oppose a large-scale development on the adjacent Badlands Golf Course in the western Las Vegas Valley.

A second lawsuit over the plans was filed by Queensridge residents earlier this month, and 36 residents last week urged the Las Vegas Planning Commission to hold off taking action on EHB Cos.’ proposal to put up more than 3,000 luxury multifamily units on the course’s eastern edge near Rampart Boulevard.

EHB Cos., which developed the high-end Tivoli Village, bought the Badlands Golf Course last year.

Queensridge resident Irene Lee came to the United States as a high school student, and she and her husband have raised two children over the past 14 years, she told commissioners.

“My American dream of individual rights, justice and governance by the rule of law was shattered last summer,” Lee said, adding that the developer told Queensridge homeowners the project was a done deal with the city.

High-density development, declining Queensridge property values and an unclear proposal were among the recurring concerns and complaints from those who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting.

Some residents involved in the lawsuits and those who spoke at the meeting have recognizable names. Among homeowners who filed a lawsuit late last year are businessman Jack Binion and gaming lawyer Frank Schreck.

Francisco Aguilar, general counsel for Agassi Enterprises, the management company for tennis legends and Queensridge residents Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, asked commissioners to ask the developer to resubmit “a complete and consistent application we can thoroughly analyze and determine if we support or do not support.”

Attorney Chris Kaempfer, representing the developer, took issue with the assertion that the application was incomplete “or your staff wouldn’t have recommended approval,” he said.

“We will continue to work with these people,” Kaempfer said.

The developers didn’t object to city officials’ suggestion that the commission hold off on acting on the plans last week. Initially, commissioners were asked to hold off for 30 days, but after residents urged a 90-day delay, the commission voted 5-2 for the latter.

City officials are planning more meetings with Queensridge residents, possibly in City Council chambers.

Robert and Nancy Peccole, whose property abuts the golf course, filed a lawsuit in District Court July 7 against EHB Cos. and Las Vegas, among others. The complaint alleges a breach of contract and a fraudulent scheme to “deprive the plaintiffs as Queensridge homeowners of their entitled rights to a golf course, open space and flood control …”

“The Queensridge master planned unit development community and its homeowners, with the Badlands Golf Course as its focal point, were led to believe that the golf course was never to be residential,” the lawsuit states.

“I don’t feel capable of voting on this in a month,” Commissioner Vicki Quinn said before the vote. “Why don’t we respect these neighbors and in three months revisit it?”

The project is scheduled to come back before the Planning Commission on Oct. 11. Among the related items that will come back before the commission in three months is the developer’s application for “Orchestra Village,” whose first phase consists of 17.5 acres and up to 720 acres at the corner of Alta Drive and Rampart Boulevard.

The developer’s website has a document called “Setting the Record Straight” on plans for the golf course, claiming that “various communications fraught with inaccuracies and misrepresentations” have been anonymously disseminated to Queensridge homeowners.

That document says that about half of the property will remain preserved and undeveloped and contends that traffic generated by the development will have a “gradual impact” on city roads.

Las Vegas Councilman Bob Beers, who represents the area, said the process should be less hurried with the commission’s 90-day delay.

“The turmoil is from ambiguity and the uncertainty,” Beers said. “That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to wait for a long time.”

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.