Henderson: Panel wraps up its plan for eastern development

Valerie Miller

Thursday, May 27, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.

After nearly a year of wrangling with residents and developers, Henderson's Citizens Advisory Committee completed its study of the East Lake Mead Drive area Wednesday.

The committee voted 11-0 to send its recommendations on future development in the 1,470-acre area on the city's northeast side to the Planning Commission and City Council.

A year ago the city asked the advisory committee -- an all volunteer panel -- to make suggestions for the best use of the land in hopes of increasing the city's economic development and its job base.

The committee recommended developing an employment center -- an area of businesses designed to keep people employed in their own community.

"The Lake Mead corridor already had industry and it seemed a good place to encourage more industry," Committee Chairman Manny Gomez said.

"Henderson is the fastest growing city in the nation, but only 12 percent of our people work in Henderson," he said. "So we have a lot of people leaving at 7 a.m. and returning at 7 p.m., which isn't good for our air quality or our economy."

Gomez said he hopes the employment center can raise the number of residents working in the city to 25 percent to 30 percent.

"If we could get that number to 25 or 30 percent, Henderson could be a city on the edge, like Scottsdale (Arizona), and not a bedroom community dependent on Las Vegas," he said.

To encourage economic development, some areas in the study were recommended for zoning changes to allow for commercial and industrial uses, as well as suggestions for public transportation routes in the area.

The area studied by the advisory committee included land on each side of East Lake Mead Drive from Boulder Highway to the eastern boundary of the city, parts of the Henderson redevelopment area, and Calico Ridge and surrounding communities.

While the committee made recommendations for some parts of the Calico Ridge area, it did not discuss the 60-plus acres of industrial land mediated by the city earlier this year. The committee will include the mediator's recommendations with its report when they receive them, according to Gomez.

The mediation had been an attempt to ease the concerns of Calico Ridge residents, who said industrial development, which could have come within 20 feet of their community, would have destroyed their quality of life and decreased their property values.

Not everyone was happy with the committee's recommendations, though.

"The CAC is going to do what the CAC wants," Bob Reynolds, president of the Calico Ridge Owners Association, said. "But we will be there when (the study) goes to Planning (Commission) and City Council to voice our concerns."

Other residents said the problem of industrial land abutting residential land in Calico Ridge isn't resolved yet.

"The CAC is under the impression that the mediation resolved all the issues of the industrial properties in Calico Ridge, and it did not," Calico Ridge resident Mike Smith said.

The study is expected to be reviewed by the Planning Commission in early July.