Editorial: No breaks for plans on canyon

Friday, May 2, 2003 | 5:27 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: May 4, 2003

Developer Jim Rhodes did the expected last week, filing plans for large-scale development of the gypsum mine overlooking Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. When he bought the mine's 2,400 acres in March, Rhodes triggered yet another controversy over protecting the canyon, whose spectacular scenery, trails, wildlife and quiet roads attract tourists and locals by the thousands each year. The most recent controversy was last summer, when John Laing Homes created a furor by seeking high-density zoning for the mine, so that it could sell 8,400 homes there. Laing withdrew its proposal in the face of intense citizen opposition and objections by the Clark County planning staff.

The sheer size of the Laing proposal motivated state Sen. Dina Titus to draft a bill that would freeze the current zoning of the mine, which would allow only one home for every two acres. The Senate passed the bill last month, 21-0. The Clark County Commission, meanwhile, introduced an ordinance that would also freeze the zoning. Despite these measures, Rhodes bought the land and filed plans for building 1,500 to 5,500 homes. With permanently restrictive zoning on the horizon, Rhodes divided his property into four parcels, which technically qualify his plans to avoid the county's time-consuming "major projects" scrutiny.

It's not uncommon for developers to buy sensitive lands, hoping that after their plans are filed, the lands' value and inevitable public outcry will increase in equal proportions, positioning them to make a handsome profit on a land swap or buyout. With his purchase and speedy plans for the site, Rhodes has not been accommodating to the community or the environment, and there is no reason for the County Commission to now accommodate his desire to win approval for his plans before the final votes on the zoning measures. Development of the mine would be a major project and there should be no fast-tracking of the full applications process.

In TV ads, Rhodes asks the public to see his plans as a way of restoring the land, some of which has been scarred by 80 years of mining. All we can see, however, is years of construction traffic along the road leading to the canyon, followed by the endless traffic of thousands of homeowners, who will need their convenience stores, strip malls, gas stations, slot saloons and movie theaters. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., have a plan to offer Rhodes fair-market value for his property from a federal fund set aside for environmental purchases in Southern Nevada. This is the least objectionable way to proceed. If this fails, we hope the county votes no on Rhodes' plan, on the grounds that it is monstrously incompatible with what nature has created for us over the past 600 million years.