Zoning changed for development near Sunrise Landfill

Thursday, June 8, 2000 | 9:59 a.m.

Clark County Commissioners on Wednesday approved a zone change for a 157-acre housing development in the Las Vegas Valley's eastside near the Sunrise Landfill and a Las Vegas city sewage treatment plant.

But the R-2 change from what was mostly zoned for manufacturing was significantly less that what California-based Golf Communities had been seeking. The company wanted a mix of densities that would have allowed up to 18 housing units per acre.

R-2 zoning allows up to eight units per acre on the project at Hollywood Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.

Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury and Commissioner Lance Malone indicated that they would oppose the higher-density zoning. Commissioners Mary Kincaid and Myrna Williams supported the zoning request, potentially creating a tie vote that wouldn't have given the developer any change.

The developer reluctantly accepted the compromise, but land-use consultant Greg Borgel, representing Golf Communities, said the decision would require a new design for the development, which could change the developer's previous plans to include a 100-acre park in the project.

The plan had received Planning Commission approval May 4 with numerous conditions, including an "odor easement indemnifying the city of Las Vegas, Clark County and the Clark County Sanitation District from odor-related litigation" because of the proximity of the sewage treatment plant 1/4 of a mile east of the proposed development.

But the Sunrise Manor Town Board recommended denial of the zoning request because the Environmental Protection Agency is testing the ground in the area for toxins because of its proximity to the now-closed Sunrise Landfill, about 3/4 of a mile away.

Nearby residents also argued against the project, but their primary concern is the additional traffic and school students the project would bring to the area.

Borgel, however, said those concerns were misplaced.

"The developer has no desire to build in an area that might be dangerous," he said. "It's true that there are problems at the landfill, but they don't affect people living a mile away, or 3/4 of a mile away."

And overcrowding on the streets or schools wouldn't be an issue because the developer would slowly phase in different sections of the development, Borgel said.