Rules limiting building at Red Rock draw near

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Sweeping regulations designed to limit the impact of new housing in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area could go before the Clark County Commission and the public next month.

A group formed by former Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera has worked since November to draft the new rules for a 70-square-mile area that would restrict the density of homes and the impact new homes would have on the surrounding area.

The rules, sparked by an aborted effort last year to develop an 8,400-unit housing project on top of Blue Diamond Hill, would not bar all development, but one provision would require at least 25 feet of natural vegetation surrounding each home site, group members and Clark County planners said.

That rule, along with lighting restrictions, limits on new roads and other provisions of the draft regulations, would limit the density of new homes to about two per acre and provide open spaces to preserve native flora and fauna.

"We don't have the power to say 'no zoning changes,' but we're requiring a building envelope and prohibiting variances," said Pauline van Betten, a Las Vegas-area real estate agent who worked on the rules. "That will prohibit small lot sizes."

The regulations are scheduled to come before the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Committee on Jan. 29. The Clark County Commission could act on the rules, collectively called the Red Rock Overlay District, next month.

Van Betten said she wants the commission to act on the proposals as soon as possible, partly because rumors of impending development of the James Hardie Gypsum mine continue to swirl through the small community of Blue Diamond, where she lives.

James Hardie Gypsum, a multinational company based in Australia, did not respond to phone calls or e-mails seeking comment.

One of the prospective bidders for the property, Las Vegas developer Rhodes Homes, issued a statement last week that neither confirmed nor denied the company's interest in the 2,700 acres that James Hardie owns on top of Blue Diamond Hill, east of the town of Blue Diamond and south of the Red Rock conservation area loop.

Those with interests near Red Rock said the regulations would help prevent intensive development on top of Blue Diamond Hill and throughout the conservation area.

Van Betten said if the rules are passed into law by the Clark County Commission, it would be difficult for any developer to come in with high-density projects that she feels would be inappropriate for the area.

"The commissioners, if they pass this, will be making a statement that they want to protect Red Rock," she said.

Tom Warden, Howard Hughes Corp. vice president of community and government relations, said his company supports the proposed regulations. Warden was one of the five members of the group that worked on the rules.

He noted that the Hughes Corp., which is building Summerlin next door to Red Rock, has supported the creation and expansion of the conservation area.

"We think this effort is to help maintain the spectacular nature of the canyon," Warden said. "Protecting Red Rock Canyon is second nature for the Howard Hughes Corp."

The rules also have the tentative support of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. Colleen Wilson-Pappa, the association's government affairs director, said the home builders are still reviewing the final language of the draft regulations, but "we support the protection of Red Rock."

The five-person group that worked on the regulations, with the support of Clark County Comprehensive Planning, also included conservationists Jeremy Garncarz of Friends of Nevada Wilderness and Alan O'Neill, executive director of the Outside Las Vegas Foundation.

Garncarz said the discussions over the regulations were at times contentious, but the ultimate product appears to be something that will go a long way toward protecting Red Rock Canyon and the conservation area.

"It seems to be headed in the right direction," he said.