Mount Charleston residents vow fight

Jeff Schweers

Tuesday, May 12, 1998 | 9:42 a.m.

Mount Charleston residents have vowed to fight a proposed shopping center across the street from the golf resort and spa that developer Allen Nel is building on Kyle Canyon Road.

They were upset that an uncorrected mistake on the amended master plan for the mountain allowed the zoning change in the first place, and that the county did not consider all the fire, traffic and safety problems along with the threat to wildlife in the national forest.

The meeting room of the Mount Charleston Library was overflowing with concerned residents Monday as Commissioner Lance Malone addressed the town board, starting off with an apology.

"First I want to apologize to all of you," Malone said, trying to explain his actions two weeks ago that led to granting Nel a provisional zoning change that would allow construction of a western-themed village and the sale of alcohol on 13 acres on the north side of Kyle Canyon Road.

"I think what I did, I shouldn't have done," Malone said. "I should have asked to hold this 30 days, but I felt I was losing support on the board."

With that, Malone spent about 90 minutes discussing the options available to the town residents when he asks the commission to reconsider Nel's zoning application on May 20.

"If I can't get the board support to have it reconsidered it will stay (commercial)," Malone said. At least three other commissioners must vote to reconsider the application to put it back on the agenda.

Residents promised to swarm the County Commission chambers and flood the commissioners offices with letters and phone calls.

Nel has 37 acres on the north side of Kyle Canyon Road opposite the Mount Charleston Golf Resort and Spa being built, and two weeks ago got 13 of those acres zoned to accommodate a 60,000 square foot shopping center, amphitheater, riding stables and the sale of alcohol.

Nel said the residents by a secret ballot he distributed last October overwhelmingly supported the project, which he said would bring many conveniences to the mountain that currently don't exist.

Town board member Curtis Alexander noted that the golf resort already has approval for three convenience stores and a gas station.

"If they finish what has been approved, you'll have more conveniences than you need," Alexander said to those residents who supported the project.

The property was originally zoned residential rural when Nel bought it, but the master plan amendments made in 1996 allowed it to go commercial, despite opposition from the town board and members of a northwest plan advisory council.

"We were told by the county it didn't matter because we were still zoned residential rural," said Sharon Brown, who sat on northwest plan advisory board. "Now we find out it does matter."

The county was in the process of holding public hearings to change the map back to its original rural designation when Nel put in for the commercial zoning. Commissioners said it would have been unfair to deny him his request.

Residents speculated that Nel was only trying to increase the property's value to improve his position in a pending land swap with the U.S. Forestry Service.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, who owns property on Mount Charleston, said the county may have made those zoning map changes in violation of the state open meeting law if the northwest planning board didn't adopt the map in public.

"The town board was never given a final draft to vote upon," Giunchigliani said. "That's what town boards are for."

Giunchigliani said citizens should not have to jump through hoops to protect their neighborhood because a "glaring error was made by staff."

"The issue comes down to whether the zone change was proper in the first place," she said.

"If the decision was based on an error must they not re-hear it?" asked Susan DiGregorio, a Mount Charleston resident for the last seven years.

Malone said he agreed that the first step was to go back and see if state laws were violated when the master plan was changed, and move to kill Nel's request.

"If it's not illegal what are our other options?" Malone asked.

Deputy District Attorney Rob Warhola said if the zoning change was made legally, the developer could sue the county and probably win.

"That's the other consideration," Warhola said.

Giunchigliani said state law gives the county the authority to deny any project if there are public safety concerns. She also criticized the county's practice of approving zoning before traffic studies and other approvals were secured.

Lesa Coder, a county planner, conceded that the practice "does tend to expedite the process" for developers.

Giunchigliani asked Malone if he'd support legislation that would require developers to get traffic studies and agency approvals in place before the board could vote on a zoning change.

"It makes sense to me," Malone said. "Our hands are tied once they approve it."