Herrera proposes development buffer zones

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 | 9:35 a.m.

Environmentally sensitive areas such as Red Rock Canyon could soon see greater protection from residential development, a growing flashpoint of controversy for the Clark County Commission and other government agencies.

Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera is proposing a county law that would provide buffer zones where such developments would face tougher obstacles in the county's planning and zoning process.

Herrera said Monday that the ordinance would define such areas, create working groups to establish stricter standards for developments within those area and require at least four of the seven commissioners to approve such residential projects.

What areas would be covered by the new law would have to be decided on in the working group sessions, Herrera said. But land surrounding the Red Rock National Conservation Area should be included in the definition of environmentally sensitive areas, he added.

The commissioner, now running as a Democrat for the 3rd Congressional District seat, has expressed concerns about a proposed 20,000-person, 8,400-home development that would be adjacent to the conservation area. Developer John Laing Home has faced stiff popular opposition to the project, which would be on a 3,000-acre site now mined and owned by James Hardie Gypsum near Blue Diamond.

The new law probably would not be applicable to the Blue Diamond Hill proposal now on the table. But if the county commission rejects the proposal, future projects planned at the same location could be affected.

Herrera said the idea for the proposal came from a recent meeting on the project in the village of Blue Diamond.

"The idea came when someone asked the very astute question: Would you put 8,400 homes outside the gates of Yellowstone National Park?" Herrera said.

Other sensitive areas are facing increasing pressure for residential development, he said, including the Clark County Wetlands Park inside his own commission district.

The proposal, now being drafted by the Clark County Comprehensive Planning Department, would have to get a go-ahead from a majority of commissioners. It is scheduled for discussion Sept. 18, county planner Chuck Pulsifer said.

The law could take months before it is enacted, Pulsifer said.

"There are a lot of affected parties," he said, including existing property owners in the Spring Mountains and the Mount Charleston area. The law would have to be carefully phrased so that it did not take away existing property rights unnecessarily, Pulsifer said.

"I think we need to think about this carefully and not have any unintended impacts," he said.

Barbara Ginoulias, assistant planning director, said issues such as the controversy over the Red Rock residential proposal are likely to come up again as the Las Vegas Valley's population continues to grow.

Sierra Club organizer Leana Hildebrand said Herrera's proposal has merit.

The ordinance "would be really positive for Southern Nevada and the people of the Las Vegas Valley," she said. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups have been working to extend federal wilderness protection to areas throughout Clark County.

Hildebrand noted that the Sierra Club has endorsed Herrera's congressional bid.

But not everyone was as happy to contemplate more restrictions on development.

Irene Porter, Southern Nevada Home Builders Association executive director, said she has concerns about the proposal.

"There's just an enormous number of questions," she said. "Let's start at the most basic: Is this even needed?

How much land are we taking off the market when we have a land shortage already? If you start taking private property away from people, are you going to compensate them?

"If we want to take land from people, and we want to protect and preserve it, then we as a community need to be ready to purchase it."

Herrera said developers would be included in groups that would work out details of the proposal.