Church’s plan for new building postponed

The Las Vegas City Council postponed action regarding the International Church of Las Vegas' plan to build a house of worship near the southwest corner of the Las Vegas Beltway and Cheyenne Avenue.

The council tabled the matter at its meeting today at the request of church officials, who opted to redesign and re-engineer site plans in order to conform more closely to city development guidelines.

In a March 30 letter to city Councilman David Steinman, the church said the postponement will allow more time for church leaders to discuss the project with concerned residents, including a proposed 85-foot-tall tower that would have conflicted with the city's Hillside Ordinance, which caps a building's height at 35 feet.

"This will give us the time to take what has been a 'contentious issue' and turn it into a 'cooperative process,' " the church's letter read.

In addition, church officials will take residents’ previous input into consideration as the project goes back to the drawing board, Pastor Paul Goulet said following the council meeting.

“I love my city. I love my neighbors and they were concerned about things, and I want to work together with the city,” he said. “The bottom line is what’s going to complement that mountain, what’s going to complement that area, what’s going to make it look beautiful.”

The church's initial plan called for an 89,550-square-foot building to be nestled into the base of La Madre Mountain. The church had sought a number of waivers, variances and zoning redesignation approvals from the city for the project, which would have progressed to the permit process had it been approved today as originally designed. Church officials had hoped the project would break ground within two years and be completed in 12 months.

Goulet said revisions to site plans may take several months to complete.