Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.
The stretch of Robindale Road that guides Rhodes Ranch students to the new Sierra Vista High School is paved and ready for use.
Now parents wonder when Clark County officials will remove the barricades to improve access from Durango Road to the 2,200-student high school at Robindale and Cimarron roads.
The likely answer is: in a year, if ever.
Shortly after the Clark County School District paved Robindale in preparation for traffic associated with the new high school, golf course developer Billy Walters requested that ownership of the road be transferred to him.
Walters said Tuesday he will dig up the road to make way for his new golf course, expected to blanket nearly 200 acres split by Robindale.
Nearby homeowners and school administrators are concerned that without Robindale, traffic in the Spring Valley community will be a nightmare.
Compounding concerns for school officials is the Clark County Commission's decision last week to amend Spring Valley's master plan to allow for a commercial center and office complex along Warm Springs and Cimarron roads.
The 700,000-square-foot complex planned for the plot is roughly the size of Centennial Center, which is anchored by Home Depot and Sam's Club.
Commissioners are scheduled to consider formally changing the zoning to commercial next Wednesday and William Garis, principal at the year-old Sierra Vista High School, plans to attend.
"We've never been involved in the process," Garis said. "The last thing we were told was there was going to be a large park around most of the school. Anytime there is a commercial development adjacent to a high school it creates a potential for some issues."
Like most homeowners in Spring Valley, Garis said he was never informed of the proposed master plan amendment or the transfer of Robindale to Walters. Garis said he learned of the change when he contacted the county's public works division to ask when the stretch between Cimarron and Durango would open.
With most Sierra Vista students coming from the Rhodes Ranch development on the west side of Durango, the primary route -- which would have been Robindale -- is from Warm Springs to Cimarron.
Garis said proof of traffic problems are seen frequently but could worsen with student enrollment expected to grow to 3,000 next year.
Just Tuesday morning a substitute teacher was involved in an accident at Warm Springs and Cimarron, where the only traffic-control devices are stop signs at Cimarron.
The accident delayed dozens of students who were stuck in traffic, Garis said.
County officials have focused on improving access to high schools after a 16-year-old Centennial High School student was killed in a traffic accident in September. The boy avoided after-school traffic by using back roads.
"We're trying to provide adequate access; this goes against what we're trying to do in other parts of the community," Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said.
Walters said when he leased some 330 acres from McCarran International Airport, plans for paving Robindale were supposed to be halted.
"The road was never supposed to be paved; it was a mistake done by public works," Walters said.
Still, Walters' plan might run into a hitch.
According to an Oct. 23 letter Public Works Director Marty Manning wrote to Garis, the Clark County Planning Commission placed conditions on its decision to transfer Robindale to Walters.
Walters is required to solve access problems caused by the loss of Robindale for private property owners along Robindale. Manning wrote that the conditions have not been met, and Walters has until Sept. 4, 2003, to comply.
Fred Smith, construction manager for the school district, said he was aware of the plans to give up Robindale. But in exchange for losing Robindale, Smith said other developers in the area were to build a road on Buffalo Drive from Robindale to the Las Vegas Beltway. That also has yet to occur.
In his letter, Manning also expresses concerns about traffic routes around Sierra Vista.
"I can appreciate your concerns about access to and from Sierra Vista High School," he wrote. "This is a general concern at new high schools in areas without developed areas of the county."
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