Request to move channel considered once again

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, May 2, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

Despite continued pressure from a developer and a Clark County commissioner who want a planned drainage ditch relocated to the east of Durango Drive, McCarran International Airport officials who oversee the land refuse to change their position.

For the fourth time in two months, a request to move the flood channel off developer Jim Rhodes' property to public land will be considered Wednesday by the Clark County Commission acting as the zoning board.

Rhodes and Commissioner Erin Kenny met again with Aviation Director Randall Walker last month, only to hear Walker reiterate his stance.

"There is no public purpose" in moving the ditch, Walker said Monday. "The only purpose it serves is to benefit Rhodes. That is not a public purpose. I don't develop my positions based on whether they think it's right."

Walker is protective of the 100-foot-by-half-mile swath of desert land, because it is part of 5,300 acres in the Cooperative Management Area acquired by the airport from the Bureau of Land Management late last year.

The airport must sell or lease the land for projects that benefit the public. Some 80 percent of the proceeds are returned to the federal government.

Rhodes acquired property on the west side of Durango just south of Warm Springs Road from the BLM in a 1995 land exchange. BLM officials said $186,000 was knocked off the value of the land because of the Regional Flood Control District's plans to extend the Tropicana-Flamingo Wash through the property.

Rhodes representatives have claimed that a concrete channel along Durango would not be aesthetically pleasing for homeowners who buy in their future housing development.

But critics of the project believe Rhodes simply is after more land so he can squeeze more homes into the neighborhood.

Both Walker and county planners have strongly urged the county zoning board to vote against the request. Planners also have asked commissioners to move quickly, because the channel is a much-needed portion of the wash. The item was held once in March and twice in April.

Walker said the most recent meeting that included Rhodes and Kenny focused on the placement of the drainage ditch. Rhodes has asked that the ditch be 660 feet to the east of Durango, but the county would prefer it be built along the road so it doesn't interfere with two planned golf courses.

"We want it to disrupt as little of our property as possible," Walker said.

Walker also insists if commissioners vote to move the ditch that Rhodes pay fair market value for the land, which according to a recent appraisal is about $1.3 million. The county property makes up three of the five parcels Rhodes would need for the new location of the ditch, so he would end up paying at least $1.5 million more, Walker said.

Planners also have vehemently opposed the relocation.

Neither Kenny nor Rhodes' attorney, Chris Kaempfer, could be reached for comment.

If commissioners vote against their recommendation, planners ask that strict conditions be placed on Rhodes.

Within three weeks, the developer would have to meet all of the conditions, which include utility requirements, acquiring the title interest in all property needed, obtaining approvals from the flood district and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the taking care of construction and design costs.

Adrienne Packer covers county government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2310 or by e-mail at adrienne@lasvegassun.com