Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Development threat angers residents, environmentalists

A multinational home builder has staked a claim for more than 2,000 mountain acres near the Red Rock National Conservation Area, raising the hackles of local residents and environmentalists.

London-based John Laing Homes, incorporated locally as WL Homes, has not announced plans for the land.

But the agreement to buy the land from James Hardie Gypsum has already sparked criticism from residents and environmentalists, who said they will oppose developing the mountainous terrain west of the Las Vegas Valley.

Laing Homes, which has put developments in several local master-planned communities, including Summerlin and Tule Springs, did not respond to repeated phone calls last week and this morning.

Environmentalists and residents of the town of Blue Diamond, south of Red Rock, have had varying success over recent decades in opposing land-use applications in and near the mountains.

This year they have opposed a planned restaurant/bar and a hydroelectric plant in the vicinity of the planned development. Both projects appear to have green lights despite their opposition.

But the scale of the possible development brewing in the mountains dwarfs the other projects.

James Hardie Gypsum announced the sale of 2,200 acres of mined-out land to the developer July 2. The going price was "about $50 million," the mining company said.

The mineral company will continue to operate the gypsum processing plant near Blue Diamond, plant manager Terry Sherman said. But the mined-out land isn't a money-maker for the company, he said.

"The bottom line is that we've been mining that property since the 1920s," he said. "We're getting down to the end of our reserves. It doesn't make sense to hold on to the property."

Sherman said the gypsum company and Laing Homes both have two years to back out of the deal.

"There's been no money exchanging hands," he said.

The company's announcement of the deal noted, "The sale is subject to completion of planning and regulatory approvals," a provision that could be the deal maker or breaker.

Critics of development in the mountainous area said local or federal land-use approvals could be very tough to get.

"It is still problematic, whether the developers will be able to develop the property as they would like," activist Jeff van Ee said. "This does not have sufficient water. There is no power up there.

"It is a remarkable price to pay for property that has been mined," he said.

"I really don't know how much buildable property there is up there," said Evan Blythin, chairman of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council and a resident of the small community of Blue Diamond, an enclave of about 800 homes in the mountains west of the Las Vegas Valley.

The selling price is about equal to the recent auction bid for former Bureau of Land Management turf in North Las Vegas. American Nevada Corp. and Del Webb Corp., a national home builder, bid $47 million for 1,900 acres, planning a large community to include 7,500 residences, amenities and a casino. American Nevada is owned by the Greenspun family, publishers of the Sun.

But unlike the North Las Vegas land deal, the James Hardie Gypsum land doesn't have convenient sources for utilities and road access, Blythin said.

Blythin and van Ee said they suspected that a proposed hydroelectric power station in the mountains would serve as an opening for other rights-of-way, but Bohdan "Bo" Buchynsky, power plant project director for Blue Diamond Power Partners, said the home builders haven't been in touch with his company.

The power plant project is independent of any residential development plans, Buchynsky said. The water the power plant would use isn't potable, and residential subdivisions couldn't easily hook up to the power lines the plant would use.

If the home builder were to bring water, power and roads to new homes, they would likely require Bureau of Land Management approval, and that process isn't easy, Blythin said.

BLM Assistant Field Manager Rex Wells said getting approval for rights-of-way through the federal land that surrounds the 2,200 acres can be a complicated process. An applicant would have to identify the legal and environmental issues involved, and the BLM would weigh the costs versus benefits.

Wells said he isn't aware of any inquiries from the development company.

Also unaware of any inquiries is the Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning. Jory Stewart, a county planner, said developing that much land would require a major-projects plan and approval.

Major projects go through the Clark County Commission for approval.

Blythin said he isn't sure if any development would come before the citizens advisory council first. The council gives the County Commission recommendations on land use issues in the area. If the advisory council does find a development proposal before it, Blythin isn't likely to support it.

"I don't think we need that here," he said. "Las Vegas has very precious little of what we have in Red Rock Canyon.

"We have so little of the beautiful part of nature that it's just a shame to mess with it," Blythin said.

If a development proposal for the mountains made it to the County Commission, Blythin and environmentalists said, firestorms of debate over previous land-use issues would look small compared with the heat that controversy would generate.

That's partly because of how such a development would transform the rural character of the area, Blythin said.

"You're talking about a mega-development that would definitely change the whole tone of Red Rock Canyon. ... It would turn Red Rock Canyon into an urban development."

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