Group offers plan to stop Blue Diamond development

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

A national conservation group is working to permanently block development on top of Blue Diamond Hill, a mining property surrounded on three sides by the Red Rock National Conservation Area.

Michael Ford, Great Basin director of The Conservation Fund, said Wednesday night that his organization has had direct talks with James Hardie Gypsum, the company mining the hill, as well as the federal Bureau of Land Management and Clark County officials.

The group's proposal is to buy a conservation easement for the area now being mined. The easement would permanently stop development, but it would also allow James Hardie -- a division of an Australian-based multinational -- to continue mining the land.

"They would still own the property and continue the mining operation," Ford said. "We would strip any future opportunities to put a subdivision or homes on it."

Representatives of the gypsum mining company were not immediately available for comment. They have not responded to recent phone or e-mail requests for information.

The mining site was a flashpoint last year after developer John Laing Homes announced plans to seek zoning approval to put as many as 8,400 homes on about 2,000 acres on top of the hill on the western edge of the Las Vegas Valley. The developer signed an agreement in principle with James Hardie to pay $54 million if they received the zoning approval from Clark County.

But in the face of widespread community opposition and skepticism from Clark County commissioners, John Laing Homes withdrew the zoning application.

Many in the small town of Blue Diamond and throughout the Las Vegas Valley, however, fear another developer will again try to develop the property.

Ford could not name a dollar amount The Conservation Fund would offer for the property. He said the goal would be to sell the easement to a government agency such as the county or the BLM, which manages the conservation area.

Ford said money for the easement could come through proceeds of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.

James Hardie or a corporate successor would have to restore the mined-out lands according to federal law, Ford said. However, the company would also get significant tax breaks as well as money from the sale of the development rights to the conservation group, he said.

"Also, they would be heroes," Ford said. "We are making a very viable proposal that would meet their goals and the community's goals."

About 20 residents from Blue Diamond heard the report from the conservationist at the regular meeting of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council, a group that advises the Clark County Commission on land-use issues affecting Blue Diamond, Red Rock and Calico Basin.

Also at the meeting, the residents heard details of another proposal to limit development on Blue Diamond Hill and throughout the conservation area. Under new rules proposed by a task force, development of new homes would be limited to one or two per acre and would have to be away from ridgelines visible from the Las Vegas Valley to the east or State Route 159 on the west.

The rules also include regulations that would bar fencing, protect the natural habitat of the area and limit heights and lights in residential development within the area.

Clark County planner Dave Carlson told the residents and the five members of the citizens council that the commission could introduce the ordinance, called the Red Rock overlay zone expansion, next month.

Pauline van Betten, a Blue Diamond resident and a member of the task force that drew up the rules, said she believes they would have a significant impact on future development concepts for the area.

"It makes a statement," she said. "If they adopt it, it says the county commissioners are going to take a look at the Red Rock area and will take a stand to protect it."