County eyes slowing growth in NW

Tuesday, July 17, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

The northwest Las Vegas Valley has been one of the fastest growing areas over the past decade. Clark County Commissioners will be poised Wednesday to slow that growth.

A zone change would designate the Lone Mountain area, about 7,600 acres, as a Rural Neighborhood Preservation Zone, a land-use designation that would make it more difficult to build high-density housing or commercial projects.

County planners say the designation would give a layer of protection to the rural zoning and lifestyle that is the core of the community.

The rural designation would likely count for a lot with the commission, which ultimately guides land use for the area, Chuck Pulsipher, county zoning administrator, said. But it would not stop all development, he said.

"Even if this zone change is approved, people can still apply for zone changes to allow more intensive property use," Pulsipher said.

But developers or land owners would find it more difficult to get commercial or high-density residential zoning when the existing map has an "RNP" designation, he said.

"That's going to catch the attention of the board," he said.

Carroll Varner, an area resident who closely watches land-use battles, agreed. Varner, a board member of the Northwest Citizens Association and the county's Lone Mountain Citizens Advisory Council, which advises the commissioners on land-use issues, said he supports the move.

"It's a great thing," Varner said. "It adds a little strength to the zoning, makes it difficult for applicants to change it."

The Lone Mountain area has been the focus of development efforts because of its proximity to the Las Vegas Beltway, U.S. 95 and Town Center, a large commercial hub, Rod Allison, a county planner, said.

The proposal to restrict development in the largely rural area isn't getting unanimous support, however. Some landowners in the Lone Mountain area have criticized the move, arguing that it will undercut property values. However, developers were reluctant to speak out against the change Monday.

One developer who also lives in the area said the designation is not a bad idea, but it needs some refining.

"I can give you both sides," said John Ritter, a Lone Mountain resident and president of Focus Commercial Group, which develops residential and commercial projects in the area. "As a homeowner, I think it is great, but there are a couple of locations that I don't think are appropriate" for the rural zoning designation.

He said the area north of Centennial Parkway near the Las Vegas Beltway is appropriate for higher-density homes and commercial zoning.

Linda Fionda, another area homeowner, said the rural lifestyle she enjoys needs to be preserved. A potential developer could still seek a special use permit to build in the area, she said, but a rural zoning overlay would discourage "creeping" zone changes that could affect areas miles from their original source.

Like other homeowners, she said the pressure is highest on so-called section line streets, the roads slated to be major thoroughfares when the area is fully developed.

Fionda said other parts of the unincorporated county have fallen like dominoes to commercial and high-density residential zoning.

"We love to see the people ride by with horses," said Fionda, who has lived in Lone Mountain more than seven years.

Ritter said rural zoning would not stop development pressure, but agreed that it would discourage attempts to put more intense uses in the neighborhood.

"It isn't written in stone, but as far as rural neighborhood preservation district, they (the county commissioners) have been very stringent on those."