Movie studio gets Henderson board’s thumbs-up

Valerie Miller

Friday, Dec. 11, 1998 | 11:39 a.m.

Hollywood may soon be coming to Henderson. The Planning Commission Thursday approved plans for the first phase of the Black Mountain Studio, but nearby residents are anything but star struck.

Around 60 people from the surrounding Mission Hills area turned out for the meeting at Henderson City Hall, with about a dozen residents speaking before the commission to request strict guidelines for the project, often to loud bursts of applause from their neighbors.

Concerns of residents include having adequate buffers and setbacks to protect their community from traffic, noise and other dangers posed by the studio project, as well as a huge influx of visitors.

"The studio is expected to bring in 1.5 million visitors a year, which is 4,000 a day," resident Layla Perfinski said. "This (studio) will cause an increase in noise, litter, traffic and undesirable area. You look at those areas around Disneyland and Universal Studios in California and they're slums."

Some residents worried about the possible use of pyrotechnic explosives during filming, but they were reassured by the commission that the Henderson Fire Department would strictly regulate any such use.

The Black Mountain Studio, which will consist of 84 acres when completed, will be on the southeast corner of Dawson Avenue and the Union Pacific railroad tracks in the Wagon Wheel Industrial Park.

The first phase will consist of two lots on 20 acres, with a 10,000-square-foot topiary (themed) garden, a fountain and a 119,225-square-foot building, which will include a movie studio and commercial offices.

Residents also worried about the suggestion made by the developer, Doris Keating, to possibly run a train from the studio to Boulder City and back. At the meeting, though, Keating called the idea a "pipe dream." But that comment didn't do much to ease residents' minds.

"The train would run three times a day," Perfinski said after the meeting. "Her dream would be our nightmare."

Keating told the commission that she has tried to work with residents to make the studio acceptable to them, and she feels the project will be beneficial to the city.

"This studio will put Henderson on the map and give it the economic diversity the city so desperately needs," Keating said.

For the most part, the commission seemed to agree that the studio would be a step in the right direction in terms of bringing nongaming jobs to Henderson, but they stressed that they were taking into account the concerns of residents.

"I agree that this provides the diversification that our economy is looking for, but I'm just concerned that we work in harmony with the homeowners that are near this to make sure that it has as minimal effect as possible," Commissioner George Bochanis said.

Conditions added on for approval of the first phase of the studio included limiting hours for outside filming from sunrise to 9 p.m. and requiring an additional 34 parking spaces to bring it 199 spaces.

The Black Mountain Studio is expected to be competed in six phases over three years and will include several sound stages, editing and storage facilities and area to house animals used in filming, as well as sets for visiting film producers.

Also Thursday, the board voted to continue plans for the Gibson Plaza until the Jan. 14 meeting. The plaza would be a mixed-use project consisting of resort hotels, offices, restaurants and retail on 62 acres at 701 N. Gibson Road on the corner of Gibson and Sunset Roads.