Planning board OKs subdivision changes

Valerie Miller

Friday, June 12, 1998 | 11:26 a.m.

The long-awaited Palm City subdivision received support Thursday night from the Henderson Planning Commission, which voted 6-0 in favor of the development.

Plans for the project, slated for the Calico Ridge area northwest of Lake Mead Drive and Olsen Street, were first approved in 1995 by the City Council.

The original approval, however, was for an age-restricted gated community of 2,600 units with a 164-acre public golf course. Three acres of the 598.6-acre parcel of land were designated for commercial use.

The builder of the project, Rhodes Homes, has now eliminated plans for the commercial development, and no longer wants age restrictions.

In addition to the golf course, the 255 acres now slated for development will include a 10-acre elementary school, an 18-acre private park, a 10-acre public park and 21,000 feet of trails and bike lanes.

Most of the 400 homeowners in Calico Ridge support the Palm City project and are satisfied with the modification made to the original plans, according to Germain Routkowski, a Calico Ridge Homeowners Association board member.

"We feel the elementary school will offset the density of the development," she said as she read from a letter signed by the Homeowners Association. "We feel that Palm City will be the best possible neighbors that we could have."

Planning Commissioners also voiced their support of the subdivision, which will consist of 29 lots.

"This is an excellent project, and it will really do a lot for the city," said Commissioner George Bochanis.

Commission Vice Chairman JoAnn Huffaker added that she is especially pleased by the plans for a public golf course, which she described as "much needed in the city of Henderson."

Housing on the site, which has been downsized to about 2,200 units, will consist mostly of single-family residence tract homes, apartments and condominiums.

Parcels of the land slated for development are currently owned by the city of Henderson along with Basic Management Inc. Development of city-owned land is part of a land sale and exchange that requires separate City Council approval.