Homeowners protest development

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.

An old story in Clark County is about to be repeated: Homeowners, promised that development would not encroach upon an open area outside their back yards, are mobilizing to protest a proposed development of hundreds of homes.

The residents of Siena Ancora, a Southern Highlands neighborhood, said they were promised that a small mountain behind them would be used for walking and riding trails. Instead Southern Highlands Development Corp. is proposing to put 193 homes on about 77 acres there.

The development proposal comes before the Clark County Commission on Wednesday. The proposal has already received approvals from the Enterprise Town Advisory Board, the Clark County Planning Commission and county planning staff.

However, the planning staff noted that a portion of the land to be developed for homes in the project was designated in county plans for a park. Staff wrote in their approval that the developer sought and received approval from the Clark County Department of Parks and Recreation for the change.

That does not satisfy nearby residents, who have so far gathered about 150 signatures on a petition to block the development. The residents purchased their homes within the last several years.

"We all bought with the understanding there would be no homes on the mountain, that it would be pristine," said Valerie Moonin, one of the homeowners at the bottom of the rocky crag.

Maureen King, another resident, said the hillside has important environmental attributes that should not be discarded for more houses.

"This supports unique desert flora and fauna," King said. "It's a precious resource."

Many of the residents said they paid premium prices for homes on the back of their subdivision, facing the mountain.

Jason Heard said he paid $25,000 extra for a corner lot that would face the undeveloped mountain.

"We bought with the understanding that we would have that view indefinitely," he said. Instead of the best lots in the subdivision, they will now have the worst lots, Heard and his neighbor Phil Jaynes said.

None of the owners of the 128 homes received any warning of the zone change sought by Southern Highlands Development Corp. from the county, the residents insist.

"No one had any idea this was coming," Moonin said.

Chris Kaempfer, a land-use attorney who often represents thorny issues before the County Commission, said the county is responsible for sending out advisories that the zoning issue is coming up -- and county records show that postcards were mailed.

Kaempfer said the residents do not understand the potential benefits of the planned subdivision. In one part of the project, what is now a gravel pit would be turned into homes. In another part, what is now slated for high-density residential development would instead, like the rest of the project, get three homes per acre.

"We are taking multi-family, commercial and public facility and asking that it be built out to what everyone recognizes as low density," he said.

"The issue is not compatibility, because we are more than compatible because we have appreciably less density," Kaempfer said. "Their issues are notice and some representation that their real estate people might have made.

"In terms of representation from real estate agents, they are going to have to deal with their real estate agent."

Heard said that if the hillside development goes forward, residents may sue the developer that sold them their homes -- in this case, Michigan-based Pulte Homes, one of the Las Vegas area's biggest developers.

Representatives for Pulte were not immediately available for comment.