Commissioners OK zoning change for university

Thursday, June 21, 2001 | 10:42 a.m.

Clark County commissioners on Wednesday approved a zoning change that allows the private, for-profit University of Phoenix to build and occupy a new 39,000-square-foot campus building off Interstate 215, known as the beltway, and Fort Apache Road.

Steve Soukup, University of Phoenix vice president, said the new campus will open as soon as possible, possibly within months. It will replace an existing campus on South Rainbow Boulevard, he said.

The university, which specializes in business and information-technology classes, has three other campuses in the Las Vegas Valley. Soukup said about 2,000 students are enrolled in the Las Vegas area, 90,000 nationally.

Although sometimes criticized for its money-making focus, the university has all applicable licenses for a higher education facility, Soukup said.

The two-story building will include classrooms and computer labs, he said.

The University of Phoenix required a zoning change -- from residential to commercial -- to proceed with the project. The Spring Valley Town Board, which advises the commissioners on zoning in the area, recommended denial of the project, arguing that it was too intense for the surrounding neighborhoods.

County planning staff disagreed.

"This request does not conform to the Spring Valley land use plan," staff noted in background materials. "However, the proximity of the project to the beltway located south and west makes the project appropriate and compatible with approved uses to the south, east and west."

Commissioners approved the project without dissent.