Pecos/Warm Springs office building on hold

Tuesday, July 11, 2000 | 11:28 a.m.

A proposed office and business center at Warm Springs and Pecos roads is on hold until September.

Developers AM-PM want to build a 228,000-square-foot, two-story office and business center at the site, but the proposal has generated opposition from nearby residents.

About two dozen residents attended last Thursday's Clark County Commission meeting. Opponents also had dozens of letters and 374 signatures on petitions opposed to the project.

Developers initially sought a zone change from rural-estates residential, which allows only low-density residential, to office and professional and local business. But the developers modified their request to seek only office and professional zoning, a less intense use than local business.

Rob Martin, president of the Sierra Vista Homeowners Association, said the neighbors he represented didn't support the commercial development of the parcel, but are happy with the less-intense zoning.

Land-use attorney Mark Fiorentino and architect Richard Huelsman argued that the proposed office center would mesh well with the existing neighborhood, but residents -- backed by Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury -- argued that the buildings should only be one story.

That isn't an option, Fiorentino said.

After about 90 minutes of debate, Fiorentino said the developer had agreed to meet with residents in an effort to resolve the impasse. The developer will bring back the zone change proposal to the county commissioners at the first meeting in September.