Fountain Plaza gets new delay

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, June 29, 2001 | 10:30 a.m.

A developer stalled plans for a long-awaited commercial center while its anchor tenant moved closer to a new home downtown during proceedings Tuesday before the Henderson Planning Commission.

The commission granted permits that allow the Nevada College of Pharmacy to move from its cramped Green Valley offices to an assemblage of mobile trailers in a parking lot near City Hall in the old downtown.

But developers of Fountain Plaza, a planned 7.2-acre commercial center, made a last-minute decision Thursday morning to delay for 30 days a request for zoning changes. They need to address parking concerns with planning staff, they said.

Phyllis Thompson, president of Fountain Plaza LLC, will not be able to return to the Planning Commission for the zoning changes until July 26. It was yet another delay for a project that has been plagued by delays since it was first proposed in January 1999.

City Council members have said they will hold Thompson to 60-day extension granted in May. If she can't secure financing for her $27 million commercial complex by July 16, they say the contract will be voided.

Thompson stands to gain $3.6 million worth of city land and improvements if she can arrange her end of the deal. She would also earn redevelopment tax dollars generated by the project for 24 years.

Meanwhile, as Thompson's deadline approaches, prospects for her anchor tenant continue to brighten.

City officials earlier this week made a tentative offer of $250,000 to pay for two years the costs of temporary housing while a permanent home is built for the college. The college would pay only utility bills during that time.

By September, college officials expect to have 120 students enrolled. The college should support 300 students and 30 faculty by 2004. That kind of influx of new people working downtown is something city officials say they cannot afford to lose.

"Sometimes government is short-sighted, but we have the opportunity here for more jobs, more money that will be spent in the area," Councilman Jack Clark said. "It's a hard pill to swallow when you have to spend that kind of money, but when you're talking about redevelopment and you're talking about education, it's something you have to do sometimes."