Development issues will be challenge for new commissioners

Adrienne Packer

Monday, Nov. 11, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

During the eight years Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny reigned over the southwest part of the valley, Lisa Mayo-DeRiso transformed herself from a soccer mom to a community activist fighting everything from billboards to pharmacies.

"We're exhausted," said Mayo-DeRiso, who has led her neighborhood in battles both won and lost. "You have no idea."

Mayo-DeRiso counts herself as one of many residents who were leery of Mark James when he filed to run for County Commission. James filed the same day Kenny announced her bid for lieutenant governor, giving the move the appearance of a backroom deal.

Mayo-DeRiso and other observers speculated that by electing James, voters simply turned the page in the same tale that has repeated itself for years: Residents fight developments unsuitable for their neighborhoods. Developers win.

The preview wasn't encouraging: James is a full-time attorney for Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw, a law firm renowned for advocating commercial developments throughout Clark County.

"That's a shortcoming," said John Hiatt, chairman of the Enterprise Town Board. "I don't think it will be a problem communicating the feelings of neighbors, but there will be little value in it in terms of being able to contribute to the debate and act as a commissioner."

James, however, is showing signs that he intends to write a new chapter as he prepares to take over Kenny's District F seat in January.

The Republican is leaving Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw at the end of the year. Today he is scheduled to fly to Colorado for a two-day seminar on mediating land use disputes.

"I'll try to learn how to work through these issues," said James, 41. "I don't think I have all the answers but I think you need to have consistent and predictable policies."

James might not claim to be an expert in development, but he admitted he has been disappointed with commissioners' past zoning decisions.

"It's not right to put stores with neon signs next to people's homes, but that's what happens now," James said. "Developments are a reality for us in Las Vegas. We have to do it sensibly in a way that protects people's reasonable expectations about surrounding areas."

Residents might be wary of James' law firm's ties to development, but the former state senator has already spared residents in Spring Valley from a controversial 110-acre shopping center anchored by a hotel-casino.

Commissioners, including Kenny, approved the neighborhood casino in 2000. Opponents battled back with a James-endorsed law that limits the encroachment of casinos into neighborhoods -- a rare victory for residents over developers.

Some Spring Valley homeowners are still skeptical of James, mostly because of unanswered questions about his relationship with Kenny.

"I was concerned with the way he filed," said Dee Gatliff, president of the West Desert Inn Homeowners Association and a member of the Spring Valley Town Board. "He says he has nothing to do with her, and I'd like to believe him."

Gatliff's organization is fighting a proposal to change zoning along Desert Inn Road to commercial.

Mayo-DeRiso said she was satisfied with James after she described the fight neighbors have waged against the casino and a lost battle that resulted in a pharmacy adjacent to custom homes. Mayo-DeRiso was so convinced James would bring change that she worked on his campaign.

"He has been absolutely upfront with people and says he wants to protect neighborhoods," Mayo-DeRiso said.

James' fellow commissioner-elect, attorney Rory Reid, shares his concerns about commissioners' willingness to approve non-conforming zone changes.

"I think we need to pay more attention to the master plan," Reid said, referring to a development guide that residents of each district help produce. "Neighbors should decide what their neighborhood should look like, not elected officials."

Both Reid, a Democrat who replaces Dario Herrera in District G, and James oppose developments near the Red Rock National Conservation Area.

"I have serious concerns about any development on Red Rock. It's the most accessible pristine part of our valley," Reid said.

Commissioner Chip Maxfield, co-founder of Southwest Engineering, is well aware of the skepticism that accompanies public officials involved in the development community.

Maxfield finds himself in the middle of developers and his constituents daily.

"I feel pulled between the two all the time," Maxfield said. "Land use is just working out the issues between two sides and that seems to be the nature of the beast."