Wednesday, April 15, 1998 | 9:52 a.m.
Twenty years ago, Lin Wright purchased a 1.3-acre parcel in a rural section of northern Clark County near Lone Mountain Road and North Fifth Street.
"It was so peaceful and quite out there," Wright said. "At night, you could see all the stars in the sky. I was going to build out there. I wanted to retire there."
Wright speaks in the past tense, because last week she received a letter from the city of North Las Vegas informing her of the city's plan to annex the approximately three-quarter-square-mile parcel bounded by Lone Mountain and Washburn Roads and North Commerce and North Fifth streets.
Wright's property is near the center of that parcel.
"I haven't the slightest desire to retire to North Las Vegas with their crime rate and what have you," Wright said. "They have insufficient police and fire services, and the taxes are higher (than in the county)."
A hearing on the annexation has been scheduled at 7:05 p.m. May 6 in the City Council chambers, North Las Vegas City Hall.
This marks the second time in five years North Las Vegas has attempted to annex the rural area at Lone Mountain Road and North Commerce Street.
An attempt to annex a much larger parcel failed in July 1993, after several area residents voiced their objections at a City Council meeting. At that time, the city wanted to annex a five-square-mile area of Clark County bounded by Lone Mountain Road to the south and Elkhorn Road to the north.
"The city officials told us then that they would drop the idea, but they only pretended to drop it," Wright said. "In the last six years, the city has slowly annexed one small piece after another all around us. There are only three small pieces of rural county land left and this is one of them."
This is absolutely true, said Randy Cagle, North Las Vegas property manager, who has initiated the annexation proceedings.
"Right now there are three county islands in North Las Vegas, and this is one of them," Cagle said. "We want to annex this parcel for several reasons, and one of those reasons is to try to avoid these piecemeal annexations."
Other reasons for the annexation, Cagle explained, is to avoid duplication of city and county services in that area.
"In that area, we provide fire service, but any time police services are requested (for that county island), that can be handled only by Metro Police, and so Metro has to drive numerous additional miles just to get out there, and it's the same with street services," said Cagle, who added the annexation is a logical move for a city that is trying to provide for "continuity in the community."
But residents of that county island say the path of development in the surrounding area has been anything but smooth.
"We bought land out there in 1960," said Katherine McCormick, who owns nearly an acre on North Fifth Street. "We used to live (in a trailer) out there, and I loved it. It was so peaceful and quite. But the city has built up all around us, and now there are houses all around, and there's even a school."
McCormick was referring to Mojave High School, which opened on North Fifth Street in 1996.
The school is situated just south of R.C. Farms, the largest hog farm in Southern Nevada. The farm, owned by Robert Combs and his family, complete with 6,000 head of pork, is located in one of the other two county islands in North Las Vegas.
Students who complain of the foul odors emitting from the hog farm have nicknamed the new school "Pig Sty High."
"There's been more and more development going on all around us," said Hank Combs at R.C. Farms. "How much closer can you get?"
Wright disputes that annexation efforts have been initiated by North Las Vegas to provide for community continuity.
"The city wants a bigger tax base. It's as simple as that," Wright said. "They want to continually annex more and more land so there are more people to tax."
Wright estimates that her property taxes will increase "up to 40 or 50 percent" if the annexation goes through. In addition, she said, home-owners can expect to be assessed for improvements such as paved roads and water and sewer lines.
But Cagle said the city is not planning any assessments in that county island for streets or other services.
"We're not doing that as part of the annexation," Cagle said. "We're not proposing any new streets or assessments that have been alleged. We want to annex the property in order to maintain what's there and to provide for future development. Overall, this will save the taxpayer money."
But Wright believes the annexation will cost taxpayers more money -- especially those taxpayers that own parcels in the area to be annexed.
She is attempting to collect signatures of a majority of property owners representing at least 50 percent of the total value of the land to be annexed, as required by Nevada Revised Statutes to stop the annexation.
"It's a real challenge just finding all the land-owners," Wright said. "Some of them live as far away as Singapore. But I'm not going to stop fighting. This attempt at annexation is an example of a city that is profligate."
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