City denies sewer to drugstore approved on county island

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998 | 11:02 a.m.

Calling it "one of the worst examples of spot zoning" to come before the city of Las Vegas in recent years, the City Council has voted unanimously not to provide a sewer connection for a proposed drug store in rural Northwest Las Vegas.

That, however, might not stop the Rite Aid Drug Store chain from building on the northwest corner of Ann Road and Rainbow Boulevard, a Clark County "island," a term given to land within city limits that has not been annexed into the municipality but is still eligible for city services.

City Councilman Larry Brown at Monday's council meeting criticized the company for "shopping around" to the county.

The Clark County Commission earlier this year approved the project after Brown said he told the store's officials he could not support it because it did not conform to the city's general plan.

"This is one of the worst examples of spot zoning," Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said of the project which is planned for land that had been zoned for rural residential development of less than four houses per acre.

A representative for the store told the council before the vote that if the city denied its request to be hooked up to a 12-inch sewer main at Rainbow Boulevard, the company would seek a permit to install a septic system for the project.

Such permission would have to be given by the Clark County Health District.

Brown said he was especially displeased that the company's officials peddled the project to the county because there was a city site "a quarter-mile down the road" that had been zoned for such a commercial development.

However Brown also acknowledged that the company had to choose a location that would be in its best interests.

Had the city approved the sewer hookup, Rite Aid would have been required to petition for annexation into the city limits and thus pay city taxes. The city also would have benefited from sewer connection fees.

The city staff, however, recommended denial because "the development proposed for this site is not in conformance with the laws and regulations of the city of Las Vegas."

Brown suggested that the city staff hold meetings with county officials to discuss the issue of developers shopping for the best deal on such islands to prevent future approval of projects that could go against either the county's or the city's general plans.