By Launce Rake

Thu, Dec 6, 2001 (9:17 a.m.)

The Clark County Commission on Wednesday overruled about 90 protesters, the county's master plan land-use guide and county staff to approve a 208-unit, three-story apartment complex on a 10-acre site in the southern Las Vegas Valley.

The commission by a 4-3 vote also ignored the pleas of the commissioner representing the district, Bruce Woodbury. The Signature Homes project is outside Silverado Ranch.

Woodbury said the commission should stick with the original plan approved by the county in August 1999 for a 208-unit senior housing complex. Senior housing generally requires fewer parking spaces and less than full-sized kitchens.

Approval "would just be a terrible precedent for this area," Woodbury said. "I don't think there is any other area in Southern Nevada that is more heavily impacted by growth."

Signiture Homes' Richard Plaster, however, said the high-density zoning is an important move towards the region's housing future. Commissioners Erin Kenny and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey agreed.

Kincaid-Chauncey said the federal Environmental Protection Agency supports such high-density housing, in part because it leads to less pollution.

Neighbors, however, said there are already too many apartments in the area.

"The whole area has been saturated with apartments ... We don't need any more apartment complexes," said Larry O'Leary, a Silverado resident and bricklayer.

Other residents said the issue wasn't apartments in general, but the high-density project planned for Bermuda Road and Serene Avenue. Schools, police and other government service providers are already close to overwhelmed by growth in the area, they said.

Opponents gathered about 1,200 signatures on a petition opposed to the project.

Commissioner Chip Maxfield, who sided with Woodbury in opposing the apartment complex, said his board needs to pay more attention to the master plans developed by the public and county staff.

Woodbury agreed. He said too many similar requests are winning county approval.

"You don't see a lot of contested zoning changes denied these days if there is a well-known developer behind it," he said.