Upscale subdivision residents oppose proposed college site

Jeffrey Libby and Jace Radke

Monday, April 30, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

Dozens of Mission Hills residents are planning to attend Tuesday's Henderson City Council meeting to oppose a state college being built on federal land near their homes.

About 200 residents of Mission Hills, an upscale subdivision, attended a public meeting Saturday and expressed their feelings to Board of Regents members.

Many residents said that a college built in the foothills just south of the current city line will degrade home values, bring increased crime and destroy their rural lifestyle.

"If I wanted to live in Green Valley I would," Mission Hills resident Lauren Pederson said. "I'm not against a college, but I am against it being placed in a rural area."

At Tuesday's council meeting 73 acres are expected to be set aside as the site of the proposed state college. A city application, which regents are expected to co-sign May 10, would ask the Bureau of Land Management for an additional 555 acres for future expansion of the college. More than half the land requested would require an act of Congress to obtain.

Residents criticize the site choice as a last-minute rush-job. City planners picked the site in mid-March after a long-favored site in the old downtown was abandoned due in part to environmental concerns.

"I would like to know why they want to put it here when their study of seven possible sites ranked us at the bottom of the barrel," Pedersen said.

"I'd like to know what kind of metamorphosis occurred. I think it had something to do with getting something done quick and thinking this would be the easiest way to do it."

Residents say the city picked the current site in order to have something to show legislators when state funding is determined. They want to slow down the process and wait until a better site is found.

Regent Steve Sisolak was among five regents listening to the residents' concerns Saturday. He said that he would like to see their questions answered.

"No one's answering their questions," Sisolak said. "They made some very valid points about how this will impact them as far as traffic, taxes and other services. I think some promises were made to them that probably haven't been kept, and I'd hope someone with the city could answer the questions for them."

Sisolak said that if the city signs off on the application Tuesday night the regents will discuss the issue before making any kind of decision at their May 10 meeting.

One resident, frustrated by the city's lackluster response to the neighborhood's concerns, said she plans to petition the Bureau of Land Management to ensure that a full environmental impact study is conducted.

Rex Wells, assistant field manager for the BLM in Las Vegas, said his agency will review any public opposition to the project as part of the regular administrative process. That process, which includes a 45-day comment period, could take from six to 18 months. It won't start until the application is completed.

Wells recommended that in the meantime concerned residents continue to work with state and city officials until the application is completed.

"The BLM really hasn't taken a position (on the land sale)," Wells said.

"Until we take a look at all the resources that may be affected, any position on our part would be premature."

Phil Guerrero, spokesman for the BLM, said if residents have serious environmental, safety or recreational concerns, the BLM will take those into consideration.

"This is not solely a question of numbers," Guerrero said, in answer to a question as to how the BLM would balance the projected benefits to the state of a new college versus the potential harm to a small, rural neighborhood. "If there is an absolute storm of protest, then we'll look at the issue strongly and ask is this in the public interest or not?"

But it is critical for residents to realize, Guerrero said, "that when you live in the fastest-growing city in the nation, things are going to change and you have to get used to it."