Editorial: Give city neighbors deference

Monday, Feb. 12, 2001 | 9:33 a.m.

It was encouraging that last week an advisory panel recommended the denial of a plan to build a 30,000-square-foot office complex in the northwest part of the valley. The Clark County Planning Commission sided with nearby neighborhood residents and voted against Matrix Construction Consulting's application to rezone land at the southeast corner of Alexander Road and Buffalo Drive, which would turn the residentially zoned parcel into commercial land. Individually, at least, zoning matters don't usually garner considerable media attention, but this application followed some recent controversial land-use decisions by the county.

In this case, the property sits on what is an island of unincorporated county land that is surrounded by the city of Las Vegas. Occasionally in the past the county would make zoning decisions as if the city didn't exist -- even if the county land being rezoned was just across the street from land within city limits. But recently the county and city created a so-called "seamless land-use plan" that was supposed to take off these blinders, acknowledging the other government's master plan when making decisions.

Lately Clark County hasn't exactly been hospitable to the city of Las Vegas on land-use matters, whether it's failing to provide sidewalks on a busy street near a middle school in the northwest or changing rural zoning to commercial at U.S. 95 and Kyle Canyon Road, which was inappropriate for the scenic area. Not only have some zoning decisions been inconsistent with the existing use, but they also have allowed development on desolate county land far removed from existing city sewer services, which can be costly for the city to provide. While all of this has been bad news for neighborhood residents, this whets the appetite of developers seeking zoning changes to accommodate their wishes.

The Planning Commission's rejection of Matrix Construction Consulting's application doesn't mean the end of the line for the developer, however. The decision is only a recommendation -- the final word is up to the Clark County Commission. It is time for the commissioners to put a stop to these unnecessary land-use changes, which not only anger the city, but also upset neighborhood residents who thought that the zoning wouldn't change so dramatically.