County briefs

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

Developer to meet with opponents

A developer will wait until at least March 22 to argue his case for a resort and water bottling plant on the slopes of Mount Potosi.

Clark County Planning Department staff members told county commissioners Wednesday that the developer, Augie Bustos, needed more time to discuss the issue with nearby landowners and other interested parties.

The resort and water bottling operation are opposed by the Mountain Springs Citizens Advisory Council and owners of several campgrounds along Mount Potosi Canyon Road. The campground operators are concerned that increased traffic along the road will hurt the properties and be a danger to campers.

The county planning staff also has recommended denial to the necessary zoning change. The Clark County Planning Commission, however, approved the request.

Phyllis Murray, site director for Potosi Pines, a Methodist Church retreat center, said Bustos will meet with those opposing the project before the issue comes up for a final vote.

Water officials seek limits on golf courses

Limiting the amount of turf on golf courses and for lawns at new home will reduce water use and waste and help the environment, officials told the Clark County Commission on Wednesday.

Richard J. Wimmer, deputy general manager of the Las Vegas Valley Water District, and Fred F. Turner, director of the Clark County Sanitation District, gave a report on proposed turf restrictions. The turf restrictions were emphatically opposed by golf course designers and landscapers at a commission meeting two weeks ago.

Environmentalists are concerned that water use and return through the Las Vegas Wash can harm the fragile wetlands that still exist in that area.

The county staff had proposed an ordinance that would have limited new golf courses to 75 acres of turf. Wimmer said water use agencies are meeting with golf course developers to work out a compromise.

Commissioner Lance Malone asked if the issue couldn't be better handled by the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, an advisory group that includes the leadership of all of the valley's towns and the county.

He said representatives from the agencies that work with water will meet with the developers and golfers on Wednesday.

Office complex wins approval

The Clark County Commission approved a 10-acre zone change for a 61,000-square-foot office complex in southern Las Vegas next to the Belz Factory Outlet.

Approval, without dissent, came despite a recommendation to deny the zone change from rural-estates residential to office and professional by the county's planning staff. No one spoke against the zone change Wednesday night.

The area falls into a Rural Neighborhood Preservation Area and the use did not conform to the land use plan, staff noted in background documents.

Chris Kaempfer, a land use attorney representing developer Insight Development, said the developer had worked hard with neighbors to alleviate any concerns.