Goodman sets sights on Kyle Canyon project

Erin Neff

Sunday, April 23, 2000 | 9:22 a.m.

When Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman looks at Kyle Canyon, he sees more than the scenic gateway to Mount Charleston. He envisions the city's last great frontier and the home of a high-tech center.

The 4-square-mile swatch of desert real estate at the mouth of the canyon is where Goodman wants to leave his fingerprints on the city's future.

But developing the area might upset more than the environment.

Creating Goodman's dream of a high-tech research and education hub at Kyle Canyon could drain resources and potential businesses from both the struggling downtown and a fledgling 2,000-acre Town Center.

Town Center, which was approved in 1998, is a master-planned area along U.S. 95 and the Las Vegas Beltway. The project is designed to manage growth with a zoned mix of residential, commercial and industrial areas in the rapidly developing northwest part of Las Vegas.

The question now is how to make the three areas succeed at the same time, or whether that's even possible.

"The first thing the city has to do is get the Town Center off to a start," said Eva Paulussen, a resident of Timber Lake in the heart of Town Center.

The idea behind Town Center was to corral all of the commerce and industry into specifically zoned areas to manage the last area left in Las Vegas -- outside Kyle Canyon -- where growth can occur.

When Town Center reaches completion in the next 10 to 15 years, an estimated 350,000 residents will live nearby, planners say.

However, the large number of unincorporated county islands surrounding Town Center are not regulated by the city's strict Town Center zoning guidelines. As a result, residents are already finding commercial uses popping up on the county islands, and they fear Town Center's success will be diluted.

Adding another master-planned development farther to the north could just exacerbate Town Center's problems.

"If there's another Town Center in Kyle Canyon, it'll just take away from this one," Paulussen said.

City Councilman Michael Mack, whose ward includes both the Town Center and proposed 2,300-acre Kyle Canyon master-planned area, said he agrees developing both will drain not just from downtown, but from each other.

"There's no way a downtown Las Vegas will be able to compete with a Town Center, a Green Valley, a Summerlin," Mack said.

Goodman first proposed master planning Kyle Canyon in a similar manner to Town Center when he presented his "Vision For a Better Las Vegas" white paper in February.

The goal is to completely plan growth in the city's remaining frontier area, about 4 square miles including 1,600 acres the city leases from the Bureau of Land Management.

Goodman sees Kyle Canyon as a research area and high-tech hub with biotechnology businesses, industrial research and multimedia operations.

And some northwest residents agree that is just what's needed.

"We need that," said Louise Ruskamp, a Tule Springs resident who serves as an advocate for northwest residents on zoning and planning issues. "We need places for people to work in the northwest."

Ruskamp first learned of the Kyle Canyon proposal from city planners who wanted that master-planned area to include a satellite campus of UNLV and other educational programs.

She said all of the plans for development of the northwest Town Center thus far have been commercial. If Kyle Canyon can provide office, research and educational opportunities, Ruskamp said she thinks it could be successful.

Hank Gordon, president of Laurich Properties, which develops shopping centers, said he thinks retail development is only currently possible near residential areas.

"We don't go out and pioneer," said Gordon, who also serves on the city's Planning Commission. "Nobody goes out and develops in the middle of nowhere."

Right now retail growth stretches only as far north as existing housing.

"As residential growth continues, more retail will come into it," Gordon added.

Although Gordon said he has yet to form an opinion on what impact Kyle Canyon will have on other commercial development, he does think Town Center has a decided edge over downtown.

"I certainly would rather drive five minutes to my office than clogging up the highways and going all the way downtown," Gordon said.

For that same reason, Mack said he thinks Kyle Canyon could develop as a high-tech hub.

"That would hurt Town Center, and if we're going to hurt Town Center, that's going to hurt downtown even more," Mack said.

But Mack said he doesn't think Goodman's strategy is meant to favor any one part of the city.

"I think the mayor is so ambitious he thinks it can all happen," Mack said.

Goodman, who dislikes shepherding projects planned by past administrations, said he believes Kyle Canyon is the city's last "tabula rasa" -- a blank slate -- where the future can be inscribed.

"We can create that dream out there," Goodman said. "I can put my imprint on it. It's like a piece of clay that we can mold anyway we like."

The problem is that not everyone likes the idea of turning a rural area into a dot-com park.

Jeff van Ee, an environmentalist who serves on a city advisory committee to plan growth into the year 2020, said the gateway to Mount Charleston should not become home to movie studios, university research or offices.

"I don't think it's well thought out," van Ee said. "That's one of the last places we want to develop in the valley because it's a gateway to a recreation area."

Goodman said he agreed that rural areas needed to be governed with care.

"We have to protect the rural folks," Goodman said. "There have to be pockets of rural out there."

The problem for environmentalists and rural residents is that horse trails and parks don't increase the city's tax revenue or help diversify the economy.

Goodman's official white paper proposal for the city's future says having a variety of medical research, high-technology, university-related businesses and employment opportunities will help the overall Las Vegas Valley economy.

He also disputes the claims that Kyle Canyon's possible development will drain resources from Town Center and ultimately the lagging downtown area he so ardently champions.

"It's not to compete with Town Center," Goodman said. "We can have them both."

Goodman said he thinks comparisons between downtown and Town Center are flawed because each area has a different business base.

"It's a totally different lifestyle," Goodman said. "Town Center is a suburban center. Downtown is an urban center."

Developers aren't making that distinction, however. Downtown's high land costs, small available parcels and lack of parking make it difficult to attract any type of retail business.

A study by Keyser Martson Assoc. last year suggested downtown Las Vegas could absorb 360,000 square feet of office space. A similar study suggested downtown could handle even more new housing.

Even amid favorable studies, businesses are finding it's cheaper to leave downtown than to try to make a go of it there. The Trenton Group scrapped plans for an office tower when an anchor law firm decided to move to an outlying area.

If Town Center is today's cheaper area, will Kyle Canyon be tomorrow's?

"I'm optimistic about Town Center, but I'm a little skeptical too," Paulussen said. "We won't even know if Town Center will be a success for another six or 10 years."

Goodman said he envisions Kyle Canyon's planning to be one of his legacies with development started before he leaves office.

"Unless Mayor Goodman decides to run for a few more terms that will be hard," Paulussen said.

Erin Neff covers Las Vegas government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4062 or 229-6436, or by e-mail at erin@lasvegassun.com.

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