Neighbors say smaller hotel still no better

It was a classic case of a proposed development clashing with a sleepy, semi-rural neighborhood.

Developer Paige Gross, whose proposed hotel and shopping complex was soundly rebuffed last year by Clark County commissioners, offered a scaled-down version to the board Wednesday.

But the smaller version failed to placate neighbors who live near the 7.7-acre site at Dean Martin Drive and Agate Avenue, west of Interstate 15 and the south end of the Strip.

A couple of dozen opponents showed up at the commission meeting, some brandishing signs reading "We Live Here. No Hotel!" Almost 150 neighbors had signed a petition denouncing the project.

Strong emotions, impassioned testimony and haggling over legal minutia made for a contentious 21/2-hour debate.

"It's all for greed," said Jim McGaughey III, a nearby resident. "It's the same greed we've had for the last eight years, allowing all these special interest groups to run reckless with their profiteering motives to do whatever they want at the expense of the homeowner."

But attorney Christopher Kaempfer, who represented the developer, argued that the county's master plan allows for a hotel and retail complex and, therefore, the commission must grant that use.

"Without adherence to our master plans, neither homeowners nor developers can ever be protected," Kaempfer said. "Then our master plans quite simply mean nothing."

The proposed hotel was cut in half, from 100 feet tall to 50 feet, from 328 rooms to 160, and from 332,000 square feet to 142,000.

"All those are key points," Kaempfer said.

Commissioners struck a compromise that disappointed both sides. On a 4-2 vote, they rejected the hotel plans but granted the developer's request to rezone the land for a more intense commercial use known as "C2."

However, the zoning is temporary. The developer has five years to reduce the project's size even more, get the design approved and build it.

Kaempfer withdrew the project before the vote. He noted that neighbors will have a chance to comment on revised plans.

McGaughey gave a lengthy presentation about how a hotel complex would increase traffic, straining Dean Martin Drive. It also would compound crime and destroy the area's semi-rural character, he said. Many of the residents live on five-acre lots

Commissioners Tom Collins and Chris Giunchigliani cast the dissenting votes.

Collins said the parcel was zoned "commercial tourist" in 2004 to hold offices or a recreational vehicle park, not a hotel.

Giunchigliani argued that the developer was betting on the county approving the most intense use.

"That's kind of what's been happening in Vegas in the last 10 years," she said. "I think there's a different group now saying, 'Let's respect neighborhoods.' "

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