Shopping center vote will face reconsideration

Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

A controversial shopping center approved by the Clark County Commission on Dec. 20 is coming back for reconsideration.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who voted for the original zoning request allowing the local business zoning in the residential area at the corner of Cheyenne Avenue and Campbell Road, submitted the unusual request for reconsideration.

Commissioners will debate the reconsideration issue Wednesday. If it passes, the zoning application will go back before the county commission. Reversing the decision legally requires some new information, which residents opposed to the project have said they will provide.

Applicant Mary Ann Giles sought commercial zoning for the 2.5 acre property adjacent to residential neighborhoods within the city of Las Vegas. The application was opposed by about a dozen residents present at the Dec. 20 meeting, county planning staff and the Las Vegas city government.

Woodbury said he put forward the request for reconsideration after meeting with residents opposed to the shopping center.

"I voted to approve the zone change despite some reservations because of the position taken by the commissioner representing the area, Lance Malone," he said Monday.

Malone approved the rezoning in what was his last formal vote before leaving office. Malone has since been replaced in that seat by Commissioner Chip Maxfield.

Maxfield couldn't be reached for comment during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but Woodbury said Maxfield agreed that reconsideration was appropriate in the case.

Under county rules, Maxfield can't vote on the reconsideration. However, Maxfield's position on the issue is likely to carry weight with other commissioners.

"We're hoping that Chip Maxfield will make a statement to the residents who elected him, that we were right to elect him," said Novelyn Stewart, a neighbor to the planned shopping center. "The residents are pleased so far."

Commissioners Myrna Williams, Mary Kincaid and Yvonne Atkinson Gates also supported the rezoning motion. They argued that the intersection of Cheyenne and Campbell joined two major streets, and that commercial development was inevitable.

Mark Ireland, a resident who bitterly opposed the rezoning in December, said residents will show that similar areas nearby have been approved for office buildings, not more intense commercial purposes.

Ireland said he and other nearby residents are willing to accept zoning on the site that would allow professional office buildings.

Attorneys representing the developer couldn't be reached Monday.