Ditch deal OK’d

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Feb. 22, 2001 | 11:14 a.m.

A controversial proposal to move a planned drainage ditch off Rhodes Ranch property onto public land where a golf course will soon be built was resolved Wednesday with a compromise.

The flood channel will remain on Rhodes Ranch land adjacent to its planned development on Durango Drive and Warm Springs Road, but it will be significantly narrower than designed.

"This is a really, really terrific compromise," said Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny, who helped Jim Rhodes lobby to move the channel to the east of Durango.

Despite protests from Enterprise Residents Association President Steve Small, who argued that the flood channel was designed to be 40 feet wide, Kenny quickly moved to approve the new deal.

The redesigned drainage ditch, which is the last link to the Tropicana-Flamingo Wash, will be 16 feet wide. The county added another 15 feet for landscaping and 5 feet for maintenance access.

While original plans called for a 100-foot right-of-way, the county settled for about 36 feet.

Regional Flood Control spokeswoman Betty Hollister said when the drainage ditch was first designed years ago, there were no plans for the Blue Diamond detention basin. The basin, which was completed in November, significantly cuts the amount of water that will travel the Tropicana-Flamingo Wash.

"The (Army) Corps of Engineers is very comprehensive," Hollister said. "They made sure the channel could handle the capacity, so it wouldn't negatively affect the surrounding neighborhoods."

The ditch had been planned for years. Rhodes purchased the land from the Bureau of Land Management in 1995 with the understanding that a mile-long channel would run along about 17 acres. About $185,000 was knocked off the value of the land because of the ditch.

Rhodes officials hoped to move the ditch to property across the street because of aesthetics. Without the channel, they could have added about 30 homes to the new development.

Rhodes enlisted the help of Kenny, who a year ago showed up at a staff meeting scheduled to discuss the proposal. At the time county staff members said they believed Kenny -- to whom they ultimately answer -- attended to influence them.

Before Wednesday's vote, Kenny disclosed that she lives in the Rhodes Ranch community, but pointed out that she also represents thousands of residents in the development.

Kenny told planners Wednesday that she wanted to move quickly because of a series of delays, most of which were requested by Rhodes and his attorneys.

"You've wanted me to move on this for a long time," Kenny told the staff.

The vote was 7-0 to approve the project. Commissioner Myrna Williams said her only concern was whether the ditch would be concrete, and it will be. County planner Denis Cederberg told the board he is also satisfied with the reworked plans.

"We developed what we think, once the flood channel is complete, it the necessary right-of-way," he said.