Henderson: Mixed-density project denied

Valerie Miller

Friday, Nov. 5, 1999 | 11:02 a.m.

Hundreds of loud residents packed the Henderson Planning Commission meeting Thursday night as planners denied a mixed-density development in their rural community.

The cause of the commotion was a proposed Bivins Construction residential development mixing different densities, such as single-family homes, duplexes and triplexes on 37.4 acres in the River Mountain area. The area currently consists mostly of single-family homes and now-disappearing horse trails.

Residents repeatedly interrupted developers as they spoke at the podium, while cheering on the dozens of residents who protested to planners.

"Why can't you just leave us alone?" asked resident Victoria Hendrickson in what seemed to be the predominate mood of the crowd.

Residents fear that the higher-density development included in the Bivins project, which is proposed for the northwest corner of Equestrian Drive and Sausalito Drive, would lead to overpopulation and renters coming in and altering the quiet community.

"You will increase the amount of traffic, the number of police calls and everything else that comes with putting that many people in a small area," Len Rutherford said.

Many residents said that if they couldn't have strictly single-family zoning, they would even prefer to keep the current commercial zoning on the property.

"We'd rather have a Wal-Mart superstore than this (high-density development)," stated Ed Kreuz. "This Bivins project will destroy our neighborhood."

The piece of land proposed for the development by Bivins was part of a land swap with the city to settle a lawsuit brought on by the company in 1997 after the City Council denied Bivins' proposal to build a 204-unit apartment complex on east Lake Mead Drive.

Residents claimed that the city's desire to settle out of court with the developer led to the proposed development.

"We are being made to pay for your mistakes," Lorraine Sianic told planners.

The commission reassured residents that the lawsuit was not a factor in their decision on the project.

"We are here to look at land-use issues and any decision made here is not based on the settlement of a lawsuit," Commissioner Dan Shaw said.

While the commission was less than impressed with the behavior of the citizens, some members did share their views on the project.