Apex, Red Rock plans set back

Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

The Clark County planning staff, citing environmental concerns, have recommended rejection of a pair of development projects that would add more than 44,000 homes to the Las Vegas area.

One of the projects would place more than 36,000 homes near the industrial area of Apex on the far north end of the valley. The other would place about 8,400 homes near Red Rock Canyon.

The proposals go before the Clark County Planning Commission for review Thursday. That panel's recommendation, plus the staff's recommendation, will go before the County Commission on Sept. 4 for hearings and a vote.

"We are recommending rejection of the North Hills project near Apex because of air quality issues, and there also are concerns of Nellis Air Force Base and of land use compatibility," said Barbara Ginoulias, assistant director of Current Planning for the county.

The air quality concerns are that construction at the site will kick up too much dust in an area where "particulate matter-10" -- the term for fine dust that causes unhealthful air days in the Las Vegas Valley -- already is a problem.

Also, Ginoulias said, Nellis officials are concerned about whether such housing would be consistent with its flight patterns over the area. And, she said, the area's land use is intended to be industrial, not residential.

The concerns at Red Rock are more in line with keeping the popular site pristine.

"We are talking about a national conservation area, and with the density and number of potential residents we are not sure the developer will be able to mitigate the impact" to that area, Ginoulias said.

The North Hills project, which would be developed by Industrial Properties Development Inc., of Las Vegas, calls for 11 homes per acre. About 3,200 of the 9,978 acres owned by the developer would be for residential use, the proposal says.

The Red Rock development, also called the Cielo Encantado project, includes some commercial development on the total 3,100 acres. It calls for the construction of luxury homes with an average density of 6.6 units per acre. John Laing Homes of Newport Beach, Calif., would be the developer.

The applicant on both project proposals is Quadrant Planning of Las Vegas.

Attempts to reach the developers and the applicant for comment today were not successful.

The Master Plan calls for no residential development in either area, Ginoulias said.