Land sale spurs hope, trepidation

Diana Sahagun

Sunday, Jan. 30, 2000 | 10:26 a.m.

On Mayor Michael Montandon's varnished, wooden desk in City Hall, among his various awards and plaques lies a first draft of plans for revolutionizing North Las Vegas.

It's a preliminary plan for the first phase of development for the 7,500 acres of federal land that over the next 25 years will be bought and developed into master-planned communities that could eventually double the city's population.

City residents are following the issue intently, knowing that one way or the other their hometown will be changed forever. Some are buzzing with excitement over the prospect of increased land values and new parks and schools. Others are worried that their open-space, horse-estate days may be numbered.

Although Montandon, for now, will not allow the draft plan to circulate publicly, he leafs through it with visitors to his office, showing them a map with color-coded squares pinpointing everything from commercial development to schools and fire stations.

The birth of a new city -- "a city within itself," as city officials like to say -- is represented by that map.

In the coming months, when the first phase is fully planned, city officials will deliver the map to the Bureau of Land Management. The precise boundaries of the parcel south of the future Las Vegas Beltway have not been drawn but officials say it will be about 1,250 acres.

The planning, which has been going on for years, gained momentum following the release of a BLM study this month recommending how the acreage should be sold over the next 25 years.

The momentum is forcing people to think hard about the near future.

James Cunningham and his family live near Decatur Boulevard and Donald Street. From their driveway they can see nothing but vacant desert. But as they peer into the future, they see their open view being replaced by the rooftops, corner stores and traffic spurred by urban development.

Ruth Cunningham, James' mother, said growth is putting the family between a rock and a hard place.

"It's rushing him," she said. "And he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't like the growth -- he was out here alone for so many years."

James, a science teacher at Western High School, purchased the land for his home 25 years ago, when there weren't even any streets around the property.

He says he is considering moving in the next few years because of all the changes.

"I prefer for it to stay rural like it was," he said.

Laurie Howard, board member of the local affiliate of the National Wild Horse Association, said residents who have property large enough to accommodate horses are continually threatened by urban sprawl.

Open space

She said members of her group are concerned that as master-planned areas move into North Las Vegas, the developments will consume the open spaces people now use to ride horses.

"Ranch estates (lots of an acre or more) are the areas to look upon in a positive way because they are the buffer against high density," she said. "Las Vegas has got to look at maintaining rural lifestyles somewhere in this valley."

While her organization is not against master-planned communities, they believe there must be land set aside to preserve open space.

"We're not against master-planned communities, but against where master-planned communities are developed," she said. "They just lose sight of the rural preservation idea. They need to be respectful of those people because they were there before anything else."

Other residents are either reconciled to the inevitable or looking forward to the growth.

Kjerstin Ferro and her family, who have lived near the Cunninghams for two years, say they don't mind the change.

Ferro, who grew up on a small, Norwegian island, said the family knew when they bought their property what was brewing nearby because construction had already started in adjacent areas.

"As long as they are nice-sized houses, we're happy with it," she said Wednesday as she cared for her 1-year-old son, Anthony III, and 4-year-old daughter, Bianca. "Probably the people with the ranch estates mind the most -- we don't really have anything to gain or lose.

"I like it a little bit more crowded," she said, but added that her husband, Anthony Jr., enjoys the quiet of the neighborhood and the view from their backyard of the jagged mountains in the Desert National Wildlife Range.

Cynthia and Robert Meeker moved to the neighborhood two years ago, but say they are thrilled to have a master-planned concept in the works near their home. They believe their home will increase in value as the now vacant federal land turns into a vibrant community.

"All the new commercial malls and schools planned for that community could be great for those of us who live nearby," Cynthia said.

Homeowner Christine Pitt said she is sure a master-planned community will benefit all the residents in the area.

"I like that I'll be right outside the boundaries because high-quality developers will come in and it will spill right over to me," she said.

Because the BLM study says a master-planned community cannot thrive if it's not developed on at least 1,200 to 1,400 acres, Montandon is pushing for the sale of four separate parcels which will be developed into "village" areas.

The mayor must make his case to the BLM, as both the city and the BLM have veto power over any plan. A primary concern for the BLM is making sure that the parcel sales generate the most possible income for taxpayers.

Sale revenue

The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act provides for all revenue from the sales to remain in Nevada, with 85 percent dedicated to buying environmentally sensitive land. Ten percent will go toward Southern Nevada water projects and 5 percent will go to public schools.

By 2024, when all 7,500 acres of the BLM land are completely developed, the area could include 3,900 acres of new residential neighborhoods, 475 acres of business parks and 775 acres of retail and commercial space. The majority of the remaining land would be taken up by parks and the northern leg of the Las Vegas Beltway.

Construction on the Beltway could begin as early as spring and is expected to take 18 months, Montandon said. Bright neon-orange signs are already posted near Centennial Parkway and Jones Boulevard. They feature a roadrunner proclaiming, "Las Vegas Beltway Coming Through."

If the city and the BLM agree on the first-phase plan, a land auction could happen as early as May 2001, BLM spokesman Phillip Guerrero said.

The city is working with other agencies, including the Clark County School District and fire department, to determine the necessary level of services. Tentatively, the fire department has asked for three fire stations inside the 7,500 acre parcel and one directly outside.

The Community College of Southern Nevada has also shown interest in an 80-acre parcel for a possible campus, Montandon said.

"The first phase is tremendously expensive and time-consuming," Montandon said, adding that he was not sure when the first phase would be completed or how much it would cost the city.

In the coming weeks, city planners will be establishing the boundaries of the sale parcel, creating design guidelines, and determining development fees. The city will then create the parcel's infrastructure plan and establish design guidelines for home builders.

Ongoing issue

The city's desire to turn the land into a master-planned area has been an ongoing issue for more than 10 years. The city's preferred plan -- one sale at auction to one developer -- clashed with the vision of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who said taxpayers would benefit more by chopping up the acreage into hundreds of smaller parcels and selling them over time.

But Montandon said the recent BLM recommendation meets both the goals of the city and the federal agency because it allows North Las Vegas to develop a master-planned community in parcels of 1,200-1,400 acres.

"Four parcels are large enough to be considered a master-planned community," he said. "We feel we can plan then so they all work together."

Examples abound in Southern Nevada of what the 7,500 acres could do for North Las Vegas. The Howard Hughes Co., for example, purchased 22,500 acres in the 1950s to create the master-planned community Summerlin. But the company, as the master-planned developer, sells parcels to individual home builders to create villages.

Del Webb purchased three parcels of the land, totaling 2,700 acres, to construct Sun City Summerlin, which is an age-restricted village with 14,500 residents.

Although there are multiple builders, the entire parcel has a readily apparent theme.

"A master-planned community is one that is organized with commonality and community design guidelines," said Scott Higginson, vice president of governmental affairs for Del Webb Corp. "Those guidelines can affect everything from streets, landscaping, colors of buildings and roof tiles, setbacks, and master-planning of streets."

Brian Seager, president of Avante Homes and developer of NorthBrook II, a neighborhood located near the BLM parcel on Ann Road and Decatur Boulevard, said a new community shouldn't be seen as competition, but a driving force for developers.

"I think any time a tremendous amount of land is added for development purposes, it is an enhancement to what we do," he said. "You don't have to look at it as competition, only some place for us to go next year."

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