Rural protection proposed for Red Rock area

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001 | 11:24 a.m.

Proposed new design standards for the southern entrance to the Rock Rock National Conservation Area got a boost from a Clark County advisory panel Wednesday.

With a 5-0 vote, the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council recommended design standards proposed by the county Planning Department.

The council recommends to Clark County commissioners zoning and land-use policy affecting the Blue Diamond area.

The standards would affect commercial development along a four-mile stretch of the Blue Diamond highway east of the small town of Blue Diamond. About 2,400 acres would be affected by the standards, designed to lessen the negative impact from encroaching commercial development.

Existing zoning standards for the largely rural area would still apply, Dionicio Gordillo, senior planner, told the advisory board. However, overlaid on that zoning would be the new design standards.

Russell Rowe, a land-use attorney representing a developer who plans a new restaurant in the area, had some concerns. Rowe said the Koentopp family, which plans the restaurant-bar at the intersection of the Pahrump and Blue Diamond highways and possibly a residential development in the heart of the overlay area, doesn't oppose the general concept of special design standards.

"But the devil is always in the details," Rowe said.

Rowe said the developers would like the proposal to grant more architectural flexibility and to allow free-standing signs, which the rules would prohibit.

He also suggested that a rule requiring most lights at commercial establishments to be turned off after 11 p.m. is unworkable.

"Turning off all the lights is absolutely unreasonable at this location," Rowe said. "A business should have lighting even when it's closed."

The advisory board, with a number of Blue Diamond residents participating in the discussion, recommended some minor amendments to the plan, including allowing subdued lighting into late night hours.

The board forwarded those recommendations to the Clark County Commission.

Gordillo said the commission is likely to introduce the proposal in late September or early October. Public comment and a formal vote by commissioners usually follows two weeks after introduction.

He said commissioners seem to support the proposal.

"So far they seem to be pretty much on board with this," Gordillo said.

The standards could help the character of the Red Rock gateway as commercial development pressures the area, he said.

"As development occurs, at least we would have something in place to make it predictable, and hopefully enhance and protect something that needs to be enhanced and protected," Gordillo said.