County backs homes in industrial area

Thursday, June 17, 2004 | 8:30 a.m.

The Clark County Commission rejected an effort to revisit zoning changes it granted last month that allowed more than 800 homes near a sewage treatment plant and other industrial uses.

The 6-0 decision Wednesday came despite the appeal of Anthony Longo, a member of the Sunrise Manor Town Advisory Board, a group that advises the commission on land-use issues affecting the area. The decision reaffirms a trend in county land-use planning that turns industrially or commercially zoned properties to residential uses.

Longo argued that turning the industrially planned areas to residential would clash with existing businesses in the Sunrise Manor neighborhood near Hollywood Boulevard and Vegas Valley Drive.

Lucy Stewart, a land-use consultant, and Bob Gronauer, an attorney, represented the developer in the request for reconsideration. They said homes built under the newly approved zoning would sell from $140,000 to $190,000 "entry level housing in Las Vegas' hot real-estate market.

Longo said the County Commission in 1999 made a mistake by allowing some residential uses in the area and argued that an electric generating plant, wastewater treatment plant, a junkyard, a storage facility for recreational vehicles and other industrial uses made the area inappropriate for further residential development.

"This area has been used and designated and zoned for industrial uses," he said. "This area continues to attract industrial uses."