Monday, Aug. 4, 2003 | 10:53 a.m.
Some northwest Las Vegas residents are expected to go before the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday with concerns that two proposed high-density projects are threatening their rural lifestyle.
However, the developers and city officials say the projects -- a three-story apartment complex and a shopping center -- are in line with the city's vision of mixed-use development for the area.
The projects, to be considered by the City Council sometime after 4 p.m. Wednesday, are the Centennial Gateway shopping center between Centennial Parkway and Ann Road and a 320-unit apartment complex on 17 acres at Montecito Parkway and Rome Boulevard.
Both projects won the recommendations of city staff and the Las Vegas Planning Commission over the emotional protests of many residents who fear their property values will drop. The residents argued against the added noise and traffic in an area they had envisioned would remain rural.
Planner Bob Genzer said there is often a misconception by people who buy property in a remote area and do not take into consideration that further growth will change the needs and the landscape.
"These projects are the types of projects we want for those areas," Genzer said. "Montecito Town Center is designed for a mixed-use, high-density urban village. Centennial Gateway fits the master plan and is zoned commercial."
City Councilman Michael Mack, in whose ward the projects would be built, says the issue should not be rural vs. growth but rather "smart development."
"All over the valley, mixed-use has worked at places like the Lakes, Green Valley and Summerlin," he said. "Those areas have very expensive single-family homes, but they also have apartments and commercial development."
Mack said the apartments proposed for Montecito account for 320 of the proposed 1,600 that are to be built in that general area -- down considerably from the original plan of 2,500 that the area's single-family residents had protested.
Planners also have made changes around the shopping center to ease concerns, he said. The shopping center's proposed density was reduced and businesses won't be allowed to be built on the side adjacent to homes and a rural trail route.
Concerns about the three-story apartments come primarily from the Timberlake single-family homes east of the proposed development. The two properties will sandwich a private school approved for the area. All three sites are east of Kohls, a large department store.
"They want to put three-story apartments in an area near where our single family homes have been for several years," said Robert Wagner, who lives on Fawn Brook Court in Timberlake. "It is just not compatible.
"I've had my home up for sale for $362,000 for three weeks. Thirty people have looked at it and my half-acre lot, and none have bid on it. They know what is going on with those apartments and they don't want to buy here. Yet they (city officials) try to tell us our property values aren't going down."
Mack says the residents of Timberlake "have some of the highest appreciation (of home value) in the northwest. Some of the homes were purchased for $160,000 and today are valued at $300,000 to $400,000."
At the June 26 Planning Commission meeting, about 10 other residents of Timberlake spoke against the project. They expressed concerns about additional traffic and potential overcrowding of area schools because of the apartments.
Other Timberlake residents expressed concerns that if the rents on the apartments are too low they could qualify as Section 8 subsidized housing.
Jennifer Lazovich, attorney for Summit Development, which is proposing the apartments, say the density of about 19 units per acre meets Montecito Town Center standards for design plans and landscaping.
"We have tried to meet concerns of residents by not having access on Deer Springs Way, which the Timberlake residents use, but rather to have access to our gated project on Rome and Riley streets," Lazovich said.
"And with the school, our setback and our landscaping there is plenty of buffer."
Additional traffic is the main concern with the proposed 33-acre Centennial Gateway, which, in effect, is a large off-site annex to the nearby 1 million-square-foot Centennial Center, built by the same developer, Territory Inc.
"This project will bring just too much added traffic and so much congestion to the area," said Catherine Sauve, who lives nearby on Rolling View Drive.
"No question it is going to affect our rural lifestyle. Who wants to sit in their back yard and smell fast food burgers cooking?"
Terri Sturm of Territory Inc. said that even in rural planning, the big intersections are reserved for projects like hers to provide the residents and other shoppers with services.
"The heavy traffic at major intersections gives way to the roads that lead to the rural areas," she said.
"We saw with Centennial Center that there already was a lot of traffic at Ann Road and Centennial Parkway leading to the shopping center. We thought, 'What a perfect location this intersection is for the retailers we ran out of room for at Centennial Center.' "
While the bigger retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot occupy Centennial Center, Sturm said, Centennial Gateway will be home to businesses such as a book store, sporting goods store, toy stores, restaurants and clothing shops.
Despite a letter from the adjacent Painted Desert Community Association saying it "supports the overall concept and development," the Planning Commission heard 94 protests in June and others have protested by letter.
Donn Helley, who lives in the Villas on the Green condominiums in Painted Desert, said in a May 21 letter, "I am not opposed to growth, but am opposed to unsightly signs and drive-throughs ..."
A highlight of the project is a rural trail built by the shopping center developer along Buffalo, which once was considered for a main thoroughfare but was realigned to create the winding Centennial Parkway.
"We feel that along with not putting businesses along Buffalo, the trail will create a good buffer for the residents," Sturm said. "We are not only installing it, but we also will maintain the trail."
Mack indicated that he is inclined to support both projects.
"The biggest concern I have is the traffic," Mack said. "But to say there should only be single family homes built in an area where single family homes or nothing currently exists, I can't agree with that. People who want to live in apartments or condos also want to enjoy a certain rural lifestyle.
"I agree, however, that mixed use planning has to be smart planning. You need buffering and you need to make sure there are not too many apartments stacked on one another. A successful community needs a good balance of mixed uses."
archive
