Condo residents lose bid for second access

Thursday, April 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Condo residents have failed to get support from county commissioners for a second access road into their development at Flamingo Road and Decatur Boulevard.

Commissioner Myrna Williams asked the zoning staff to draft an ordinance banning single-access gated communities.

"It's ridiculous to have only one way in and out of a complex," she said.

The issue came up at a meeting of the Zoning Board Wednesday after the Flamingo Heights Home Owners Association asked for another way in and out of the development.

The second proposed gate is now an emergency fire crash gate at the north end of the property.

The board deadlocked in two 3-3 votes over the issue. Commissioner Lorraine Hunt was absent.

The tie vote means that no new access will be provided to some 250 condominium residents there.

Homeowners in single-family houses nearby protested another gated access at Delos and Supai drives, fearing it would raise traffic.

County zoning officials will review the current gate off Flamingo and Delos Drive as a result of the hearing.

Commissioner Paul Christensen agreed with Williams' concern. Whenever the county has approved a gated community in the past, residents have to drive in and out of it on some of the busiest streets in the Las Vegas Valley, he said.

In the case of Flamingo Heights, zoning staff said no legal hardship had been shown to require a second gate.

The Planning Commission had also denied the request, prompting the homeowners association to appeal to the full County Commission.