It’s plain to see why developers lust for Blue Diamond Hill

As a PR move, a tour of Blue Diamond Hill is brilliant. A bus rocking and rolling on a rough dirt road takes you past land marred and scarred by tunnel mining and open pit gypsum mining. It isn't pretty.

At the top is a gasp-worthy view of the Las Vegas Valley on one side and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area on the other.

"It's a bazillion-dollar view. It elicits a kind of lust, a kind of greed," Evan Blythin said. "I lust after it, too. We all know nice when we see it."

He was so right. As I stood there, I felt the desire to live there. And I believe Red Rock Canyon is a national treasure that should be protected from encroaching urban development.

Blythin wasn't with me on the media tour Tuesday. Despite his appreciation for the view, he is among Blue Diamond residents adamantly opposed to the development by Gypsum Resources.

Oddly, but deliberately, nowhere is the name of developer Jim Rhodes in materials handed out to the news media.

That's one way to avoid the negative connotations of his bankruptcy, charity-stiffing and questionable business practices.

Planner and urban designer Ron Krater headed the tour. The bright, likable and articulate site developer seemed genuinely concerned about problems that must be overcome before there can be a mini-version of Summerlin atop this hill.

How bad will the traffic be? Is there a way to mitigate light pollution? What about water? How do you even reclaim land sliced, diced and pitted by gypsum mining dating to 1925?

"People imagine it to be a pristine site, but 1,500 acres are mitigated by mining," Krater said.

That's why Rhodes wants people to see it for themselves.

Rhodes paid $54 million for 2,400 acres in 2002, and getting roads and water and basic infrastructure up that hill will cost 10s of millions more.

Gypsum Resources, aka Jim Rhodes and brother John, will present the concept plan of the major project to the Clark County Commission in the spring. But even then, firm details will be missing, such as: How many homes will be built? What will the density be?

The current zoning is for one home for every two acres. To make a profit, Rhodes must build more homes than that.

In April, over the objections of those such as Blythin and Patricia van Betten, who view the project as the rape of a public asset, the Clark County Commission approved the "major project" going forward, although it must be approved in three more stages.

"He (Rhodes) will get everything he wants. With this board of commissioners, I've almost given up," Blythin said. "I don't hold anything against Jim Rhodes; he does what a robber baron does."

His wrath is aimed at the county commissioners who caved instead of fighting a legal battle, a battle their lawyers said they couldn't win.

Four meetings with "stakeholders" are scheduled to try to win support for the Rhodes' brothers project. Blythin was invited to be one of the stakeholders. He declined. His opposition is unwavering.

Just as Yucca Mountain tours by the Department of Energy were persuasive by showing how remote the nuclear storage site was, Jim Rhodes' tours of Blue Diamond Hill are likely to convince many his project is admirable and environmentalists and conservationists who want to protect the place of peace are overreacting.

See it for yourself. The 2½-hour tour is available to the public starting Dec. 3. Call 702-889-2840 to arrange.

Envision the hilltop covered with homes served by stores, businesses and Starbucks and In-N-Out Burger.

That's a lust-buster.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.