High school near orchard approved

Sito Negron and Ed Koch

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

Nearly four hours of listening to mostly opposing viewpoints failed to persuade the Las Vegas City Council late Wednesday to prevent the construction of a high school next to the historic Gilcrease Orchard.

"It's unfair of you folks to come here without being prepared to discuss what's going to happen," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said of fears the school would irreparably damage the orchard near Floyd Lamb State Park in northwest Las Vegas.

The council heard few scientific facts but plenty of concern that 2,700 students converging on the nearly 40-acre site would increase vandalism and traffic, add to pollution and otherwise ruin the last vestige of a farming community in the Las Vegas Valley.

"I don't believe a man would endanger his life's work," Goodman said of Bill and Ted Gilcrease, the octogenarian brothers who sold the land to the Clark County School District specifically to build a high school. Their family has been farming the valley since the early 20th century.

The council voted 7-0 in favor of the rezoning request that will pave the way for the school that district officials say is needed to reduce overcrowding in other area facilities. The Las Vegas Planning Commission in late July voted 5-0 against the project. City staff had recommended approval.

Many residents argued that the school should be an agricultural institution with no more than 900 students.

School officials, however, said a new, full-size high school was needed to meet the rate of population growth in the area. Also, school officials have argued that they cannot build new high schools that do not offer amenities that established high school have, such as ballfields and sufficient parking.

"This is one of the few rural neighborhoods in the community and we must keep it intact," said Philippe Jaramillo, who lives near the proposed school adjacent to the southeast corner of Grand Teton and Buffalo drives.

"We may have to forge through streams to get home like we did yesterday (during the fierce storm and flooding) but we love it out there."

Patricia Gorlick, another nearby resident, said, although nobody is quite sure what the impact on the orchard will be, she said: "We don't want to find out when it is too late."

However, some area residents of the more than 150 people who showed up for the at-times emotional meeting, welcome the school.

"Living a block from a high school is not a burden," said Donna Tagliaferri, who lives across the street from Centennial High School. Last year that facility was bursting at the seams, with more than 4,000 students, but it will be relieved this year by the opening of Shadow Ridge High School.

"I can hear the band. I can hear the football team practicing," she said. "A school, churches and homes -- that's what belongs in a neighborhood."