School’s neighbors take on developer

Jeff Schweers

Tuesday, June 2, 1998 | 9:42 a.m.

When Pam Hyer got a letter from the Clark County Planning Department notifying her that a developer wanted to build a shopping center anchored by an Albertson's grocery store behind her daughter's elementary school, she got mad. Then she got organized.

A month later, Hyer has mobilized hundreds of Cartwright Elementary School parents and other homeowners in her effort to prevent the 10-acre lot at the northwest corner of Maryland Parkway and Silverado Ranch Boulevard from going commercial.

"They are trying to turn a residential neighborhood into a commercial zone with this strip mall," homeowner Danielle Duvet said. "They're going to be selling alcohol next to an elementary school and new junior high school."

Hyer and her husband, Troy, were among the 15 homeowners who received notification in April that property owner Joel Laub and California developer Donald Benedict of Interstate Properties were seeking a zoning change from residential estate to general commercial.

"I started going around the neighborhood collecting signatures, making sure people were aware of this," Hyer said. Her daughter, Amanda, attends first grade at Cartwright.

"As we started talking about it, I felt it was a bigger issue than the neighborhood because it affects all the children who go to school."

So she approached Cartwright PTA President Shelly Nielsen, who was so outraged that she got members of her organization involved. Nielsen could not be reached for an interview, but she voiced her opposition "on behalf of the 540 students and parents" she represents in a letter she sent to the county planning department.

"The negative effects of this type of commercial establishment within 500 feet of a school are numerous," Nielsen wrote, ticking off a list of potential nightmares that included armed robberies, pedophiles, drug dealers and exploding gas pumps.

Clark County School Board Trustee Mary Beth Scow, who represents Cartwright and the new junior high, sent a letter saying that she, too, is concerned about the safety of the schoolchildren.

"We have to understand that businesses need to live alongside people," Scow said. "If you put commercial development in an entirely residential area where schools are, that's inappropriate."

Through the PTA, Hyer was able to contact other neighborhood associations. The groups organized a petition drive that at last count had collected more than 700 signatures.

Benedict, who has built several other Albertson's around the valley, said he has met twice with homeowners to hear their concerns and try to make changes to accommodate them.

To that end, Benedict has reduced the planned size of the center from 82,500 square feet to 74,695 square feet; added landscaping and berms to blend in better with its residential surroundings; and moved a loading dock away from existing homes.

He also eliminated plans for a convenience store that residents feared would attract unsavory characters, and he agreed to take out a driveway on Panhandle Street, "though I think it would be a convenience for them."

Neighbors also have asked for a 8-foot-high fence instead of an 6-foot one, a landscaping strip on Gary Avenue and a traffic light at Maryland Parkway and Gary Avenue.

Benedict has assured residents that no liquor store or pub would be leased to one of the two proposed freestanding buildings.

Despite all the compromises he's offered, Benedict knows it's an uphill battle.

"The fact is, we don't want it there," Hyer said. "We want the area to remain residential."

Hyer said she had talked to Clark County Parks and Recreation Director Glenn Trowbridge about the possibility of the county buying the site for a park, but Trowbridge said the asking price would be prohibitive.

Although the project is on a major street intersection, Hyer said it's different from any other corner because of the schools surrounding it.

The Paradise Town Advisory Board on May 26 recommended denial of the project because it didn't conform to the land-use guide and there was too much residential development. Any commercial development would be premature, town board secretary Maria Newell said.

The Clark County Planning Commission will consider the zoning request at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Clark County Government Center, 500 Grand Central Parkway. It then goes before the County Commission on July 8.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who represents the neighborhood, said he's been deluged with calls and letters from his constituents.

"If it is, in fact, nonconforming to the master plan, and there is substantial opposition from the neighborhood and the school, that carries a lot of weight with me," Woodbury said. "Of course, I would like to hear from all sides before forming a final opinion on it."