No solution for Walters’ project offered

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003 | 9:54 a.m.

Politics and emotions charged the debate between southwest Las Vegas residents and golf course magnate Billy Walters' proposal to build a shopping center on county land.

The result was no recommendation from the Clark County Planning Commission.

The six commissioners spent two hours Tuesday night listening to both sides: residents who favor open space and a regional park versus Walters, who received both master-plan and zoning changes to place a commercial center on 60 of 350 acres he leases from the county's Aviation Department at the corner of Warm Springs Road and Cimarron Drive in the Spring Valley township.

Options ranged from putting a regional park on the site to allowing commercial development. Four planning commissioners favored allowing Walters to develop a golf course, a medical building and commercial shops away from current or future schools. The developer had considered building two golf courses last year.

However, to approve a recommendation for the Clark County Commission to consider today, the Planning Commission needed five votes in favor. After three failures to achieve that "super majority," Commission Chairman Will Watson said no recommendation would be sent, although an alternative was discussed.

"I don't sense a true compromise was achieved," Watson said.

Project opponents included neighboring commercial developers, angered by what they consider unfair competition, and Rhodes Ranch residents who are concerned about additional traffic and the impact on Sierra Vista High School.

"I think this is wrong competitively," said rival developer Ed Nigro, who owns 24 acres of land nearby.

Spring Valley residents urged the Planning Commission to keep the area as open space until the county can find the funds to develop a park.

"The Planning Commission is the steward of the land," community activist Lisa May-DeRiso said. Neighbors planned to attend the County Commission meeting, she said.

In January the County Commission directed more public meetings between Walters and the community to tailor the site for everyone's taste. Commissioners made it clear they were looking for a compromise.

Former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, Walters' lawyer, said the failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of trying on Walters' part. Walters went through 18 meetings with various groups, Bryan said.

For Planning Commissioner Bernard Malamud, an economics professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the question was whether medical offices should be near the high school because of the increased traffic that could bring.

Malamud supported an alternative that would keep commercial and office buildings away from the school.

Commissioner Doug Malan, on the other hand, said the county didn't have enough money to develop a park.

"The next issue is: Is there going to be enough water to keep the course green?" he said, noting that water is scarce and the county is adopting a drought plan this summer.