Wal-Mart developer seeks delay

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

Representatives of a developer planning a controversial Wal-Mart Supercenter on airport land near Eastern Avenue and Russell Road, scheduled for discussion at the Clark County Commission's zoning meeting July 21, will ask the commission to delay the issue.

Marnell Corrao, the Clark County Aviation Department's master developer for the county land at the site, needs more time to meet with neighbors who have objected to the planned "big box" retail outlet, said Guy Amato, company vice president.

The aviation department, Marnell Corrao and Wal-Mart were hit by neighborhood objections to the design of the project at a June 2 zoning meeting.

The commission had approved a lease with Marnell Corrao that included provisions for the Wal-Mart store, however, three months earlier.

Commissioners were criticized for failing to monitor their lease approvals, which in March were included in the "consent" portion of the regular commission agenda. The seven commissioners have since changed their policies to take the lease approvals off the consent agendas.

The property borders McCarran International Airport, and county officials have planned the former residential area for a mix of commercial and light-industrial purposes for years. Aviation department officials want to have land to expand airport operations and to have a buffer between airport noise and the residential areas nearby.

Commissioner Rory Reid, who represents the area, told representatives for the project to meet with the neighbors and try to alleviate concerns about traffic and other issues.

He said Tuesday that he is likely to support a hold on the issue.

"What I said was there needed to be a public process," Reid said. "As I understand it, the process has begun.

"What will come out of this? Time will tell. I don't know."

Marnell Corrao representatives met Monday with a dozen people from the neighborhood near the planned Wal-Mart in what they called a focus group to take comments on the plan.

"We met with a committee of people in that neighborhood," Amato said. "We presented the original plan to them and really used it as a forum for them to express what their concerns were.

"We took that information and we're working on some site alternatives. We know we won't be ready to show those alternatives before the county commission on the 21st."

Amato said the company should have a better idea of the timeline for presenting the alternatives to the focus group, then at a general neighborhood meeting, by the end of the week.

Mary Cooke, one of the residents who attended the meeting, said the neighbors haven't yet seen the alternatives that Marnell Corrao is developing. She said Marnell Corrao President Brad Schnepf appeared to listen carefully to the neighbors' concerns.

"They told us they would look at it again and hopefully come up with some alternatives that they would present to us at another meeting," Cooke said. "He gave me the impression that nothing was a done deal until it gets the final approval from the commission."

Cooke said her bottom line is that a Wal-Mart does not belong in the neighborhood.

"We told them that we didn't want a Wal-Mart, didn't want it at that intersection and didn't want it in our neighborhood," she said. "You've just got to get rid of that Wal-Mart."

Chris Kaempfer, a prominent Las Vegas land-use attorney, represented both Marnell Corrao and Wal-Mart at the commission's June 2 meeting. With the county's challenge to the planned project, he now is representing only Wal-Mart.

He suggested that removing Wal-Mart from the final development plans won't wash for his client.

Kaempfer said he was not invited to the Marnell Corrao meeting with the residents of the neighborhood. He said that as far as his client is concerned, Wal-Mart is still allowed at the site.

"Wal-Mart believes, and I will be expressing until they tell me to stop, that they have a valid sublease at that site," Kaempfer said. "The only issue now is how it should be designed, not whether it should be there."