Foes to marshal forces against Red Rock Station

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.

People who live and work near the proposed Red Rock Station are knocking on doors, looking for support in their effort to derail the project.

"Summerlin Residents for Responsible Growth" are meeting tonight in an effort to sign up dozens of door-knockers. They hope to bring a large crowd to the scheduled Dec. 3 Clark County Commission meeting that could decide the fate of the project. Gabriel Lither, a Las Vegas attorney organizing the effort, said the group already has 60 to 70 people willing to walk through western Las Vegas neighborhoods.

"We're trying to get larger groups involved," he said.

About 40 opponents of the project showed up at an Oct. 23 Clark County Planning Commission meeting. They squared off against about 100 supporters of the project, many of them from trade unions that could benefit from the construction or Station Casinos employees.

Opponents include members of the Culinary Union because Station Casinos is not a union shop. Neighbors, however, are concerned that a 300-foot tower planned for the project will block views. They also argue that the project's planned 1,500 rooms will be too intense for the area.

The supporters won the Planning Commission recommendation by a 5-1 vote, but the county commission will be the ultimate decision-maker on the project.

"We are not opposed to a neighborhood casino," Lither said. "We welcome the jobs, the amenities that come with a neighborhood casino.

"But what they are planning is a destination resort."

Station Casinos representatives have said the project will be the biggest and best of their properties scattered throughout the Las Vegas area.

Lesley Pittman, Station Casinos vice president, said Tuesday that the plans are not new.

"It has been zoned for many years to be part of the Summerlin master plan," she said. "This is part of the overall master plan for Summerlin center. I understand there's concern in the community, but this has been planned for a very long time."

She noted that the Howard Hughes Corp., which developed Summerlin, has the right to build a 250-foot tower next door to the planned casino at the Las Vegas Beltway and Charleston Boulevard.

Tom Warden, Howard Hughes Corp. vice president, said his company doesn't "have any plans at this time to build anything like that," but ultimately it will build "class-A office space" in the area.

As for the controversy over the plan for Red Rock Station, he said, "The issue of the 300-foot tower is something that is a public process. It belongs in the public process, so we're letting the public process work through."

Lither, meanwhile, wants to make it an even more public process. He expects dozens of people to attend the 7 p.m. meeting at his house. He said those who oppose the project could contact him at his email address: sumresidents@ yahoo.com.

Pittman said Station Casinos also will continue to talk to residents on both sides of the issue.

"We have reached out to Mr. Lither and some of the individuals who have those concerns and will go forward with meetings over the next couple of weeks," Pittman said. "We've also received a lot of calls from supporters wanting to know how they can help."