Rural residents oppose restaurant development

Monday, Dec. 4, 2000 | 11:32 a.m.

Some Blue Diamond area residents are battling a proposed commercial development at the intersection of Pahrump Highway and Blue Diamond Road, State Routes 159 and 160, near the Red Rock National Conservation Area.

The proposed development would allow a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and lounge on 5 acres at the intersection. Neighbors and nearby residents fear that the Clark County zone change requested by developer Pacific Star Ventures would open up the area to further commercial development.

Evan Blythin, chairman of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council, said he fears the impact the development would have on the largely rural area. Although a gas station was approved and built across the street from the proposed restaurant and bar, most of the surrounding area is master-planned for residential development.

Residents nearby have lobbied to stop previous efforts to put commercial development there.

"What they're doing sounds modest," he said. "They're taking five of their 75 acres. But once they get it, the other 70 acres become amenable to a conforming zone change.

"You're looking at a domino here," he said.

"What makes it so interesting is that the proposed change does not conform to any of the zoning in the area, the land use plan for the area, and the proposed area is in a flood plain," Blythin said, referring to the county planning staff's analysis. "It also is in an area that has no infrastructure."

The nearest water hookup is about 5 miles away, he said.

Chris Kaempfer, attorney for the Koentopp's on the issue, said he doesn't know what else could go at the intersection.

He said the site is not appropriate for another gas station and convenience store, office building or residential development. The options for building are limited because of the proximity to two well-traveled state routes and a 100-foot power easement through the property, he said.

The opponents, he said, would probably like to stop all development on the property.

"It's, to me, an obviously commercial site, and we're trying to put a first-class commercial property on there," Kaempfer said. "What are you going to allow them to do?"

He said the upscale project will enhance the area, but residents say it will spoil a pristine area.

Albert Hartmann, a travel agent who lives a half-mile away from the proposed development across open desert and a member of the Citizens Advisory Council, said the proposal will disturb the view from the south of the Red Rock mountains and cliffs.

Ollie Kelly, a retired schoolteacher who lives with her husband, Gerard Kelly, on a hill overlooking the site also opposes the project.

"We sort of have a David and Goliath situation here," she said, pointing to the dramatic red-tinged cliffs rising up over the site. "That's the view. It's been on the cover of the telephone books."

Blythin agreed that the area has to be developed carefully to preserve the view.

"We're going to look like fools if we allow this to go to hell," he said.

Residents had 700 signatures on a petition to oppose the project Friday, and expect to gather more by the time the sides square off at Wednesday's zoning meeting of the Clark County Commissioners.

Blythin said the goal is to let people know about the planned development in the hope of generating the kind of opposition that has helped block previous proposals for intense commercial use.

The proposal has gotten a thumbs down from the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council, the advisory Clark County Planning Commission and the county planning staff.

The area is not zoned for the kind of requested commercial development -- highway frontage zoning covers such uses as gas stations and convenience stores -- and does not fit the area's master plan, which is predominately residential.

The property is part of a general-highway-frontage corridor that follows State Route 160 to the east and extends northwest along Blue Diamond Road. Adjacent land to the north is zoned highway frontage or rural-undeveloped, a catch-all for property that hasn't been developed.

A natural gas metering station is about 2,000 feet to the east, and a commercial nursery was approved in 1988 about 200 feet to the east of the property. With the exception of a gas station and nursery, the land use guide proposes residential-countryside for the entire area.

Opponents to the proposal say they fear that the commissioners will approve the project because of the political clout of the developers and the law firm representing the company.

Pacific Star Ventures is managed by Larry Koentopp, a former owner of the Las Vegas Stars, the minor league baseball team based here. The developer is represented by the law firm of Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner and Renshaw, a firm that has represented companies in many high-profile land use battles, including this year's unsuccessful effort to put a casino in a largely residential area of Spring Valley.

He said the council and residents don't oppose any commercial use of the property, but they want the county commissioners to stick to the 2-year-old master plan and the zoning restrictions that are in place.

"We're asking them to honor their commitments," Blythin said.