Tuscany project clears hurdles

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 11:08 a.m.

By springtime, a quarter-mile stretch of pavement in east Henderson could bring golfers past freshly constructed "Italian ruins" and a grove of imported palm trees that have stood for nearly seven years at the gateway to hundreds of abandoned, half-built house lots.

Tuscany, an Italian-themed master-planned community planned for 525 acres, was first proposed in 1995 as Palm City. It has struggled since then to become a reality.

But on Tuesday, Carson City developer Commerce Associates gained two agreements from the Henderson City Council that appear to remove the last obstacles to an April opening of its 18-hole public golf course. The first of 1,900 planned homes could start going up as soon as August.

The roughly $500 million project is the first large-scale residential redevelopment project to break ground in Henderson since the city's redevelopment agency formed in December 1994.

"As part of our redevelopment plans, we need some good solid developments on the east side of town," Councilman Jack Clark said.

"This will help with businesses coming in, help with new infrastructure and road improvements. The ancillary benefits that come in as a result of Tuscany will be huge."

In two separate votes, the City Council approved an indemnity agreement to allow construction of Tuscany's entry road and an extension of time for a land exchange between Commerce Associates and the city.

The planned entry road cuts north from Lake Mead Drive over former evaporation ponds built by Basic Materials Inc. during World War II for the disposal of chemical wastewater.

Soil tests conducted by the city in that area "concluded that the risk was well below levels that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has established as safe," said Brenda Pohlmann, city environmental program manager.

The indemnity agreement allows Commerce to build its project and protects the city from any legal claims while the state Department of Environmental Protection continues its evaluation of the BMI pond areas, Pohlmann said. The former ponds cover close to 400 acres west of Tuscany.

Commerce also plans by Monday to complete a land exchange that has been delayed since May, said Bob Unger, a Commerce Associates managing partner. Commerce will trade $4.3 million and 40 acres north of its project in exchange for 86 city-owned acres.

The request for another delay, which was approved Tuesday, should not be necessary, Unger said, but was asked for as a precaution.

The city has promised $40 million in aid to help build a regional flood control channel, water and sewer lines and other public improvements. Developers say Tuscany could yield $263 million in new tax revenue for the city over 30 years. Commerce put off the land exchange and construction of roads in May after Henderson resident Tom Hantges sued in District Court, alleging that the Tuscany site should not be eligible for city redevelopment aid. Hantges argued that when Commerce bought the Palm City property from developer Jim Rhodes in 2000, much of the former gravel pit had been graded for a golf course and homes and could no longer be considered "blighted." Rhodes sold due to financial problems.

In October, District Judge Michael Douglas dismissed the lawsuit largely because it was filed too late.

Hantges said Tuesday that he is drafting an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

But based on the ruling by Douglas, Unger said that the majority investor, California software developer Tom Gonzales, has given the OK to move forward with the project.

"Frankly, we need to move on," Unger said. "We're going full steam ahead."