Neighbors duke it out over high rise

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

The Clark County Commission considered a dozen applications for new high rises, many of them in or near the Strip, but delayed action on a contentious request that pitted Strip neighbors against each other.

Attorney Chris Kaempfer, representing the national builders the Related Cos., said his client was ready to match its success in developing such projects as New York City's Time-Warner Center at a site at Convention Center Drive and Las Vegas Boulevard.

However, neighbors, among them developer Lorenzo Doumani, chief executive of Majestic Resorts, which plans to develop the former La Concha site next door as another high rise, said the Related project would be no Time-Warner Center.

Doumani and a handful of allies sharply criticized the project, which would literally cast a shadow over nearby properties with two 522-foot towers.

"The Related Cos. is a fine company," Doumani said. "However, this is not the Time-Warner Center. This is nothing more than a mid-level condominium project."

He said Majestic would lose $61 million as a result of the towers going up next door, and that some of those who had already purchased condominiums in the Majestic project had demanded their money back and pulled out when they learned of Related's plans.

"It will lead to congestion on the Strip. It will be a traffic quagmire," Doumani said. "As a developer, I know they can do better."

Representatives of the nearby properties said Related's towers would block their sunlight and their views. Doumani said the project would block sunlight to the Majestic's pool.

Others who spoke against the Related project included Robert Vannucci, president of the Riviera Hotel, and Las Vegas attorney Bill Curran, who represented collective opponents to the project.

Curran urged the commissioners to look toward the future of the Strip. Allowing a project to obscure the sky today could set a precedent that would haunt the area in the future, he said.

"I don't think it's too much to say that the future of the Strip is going to be decided by our decision here today," he said. "We all know the future development in the community is going to be vertical. How do we balance the rights of one to another?"

Kaempfer, however, argued that the Related Cos. project met all the county's requirements for a high-rise, mixed-use project, and that the towers would be 130 feet from the pool at the Majestic project.

"We've tried every possible way to accommodate" the project's opponents, Kaempfer said.

Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams tried to balance those rights by approving one tower but denying the other. She said denying half the project might help force a compromise, such as reconfiguring the project.

"We can approve tower one, we can hold this to see if there is some way to reconfigure tower two, or we can deny it," she said. "I would hate to deny it. I believe that compromises are possible."

But Williams' motion failed on a 3-3 vote. Tom Collins, Chip Maxfield and Bruce Woodbury voted against it. Collins noted that the county does not have any rules protecting a neighbor's access to sunlight.

The coalition of commissioners supporting the project was not enough to approve it either. In the end, the commission voted 5-1 to postpone action on the matter for two weeks. Maxfield voted against the postponement.

Other high-rise projects were not as contentious. The commission approved:

a 595-foot high-rise mixed-use tower at Spring Mountain Road and Highland Drive planned by developer Johnny Ribeiro;

two 650-foot condominium towers at Desert Inn Super Arterial and Highland Drive planned by Lifestyle Holdings Limited Liability Co.;

three 450-foot towers in a residential and retail complex at Harmon Avenue and Lamar Circle planned by Harmon Crossing Limited Liability Co.;

a mixed-use development planned by New-Com Employees Profit Sharing Plan and Meldrum Family Trust that would include 410-foot buildings;

426-foot condominium towers at Highland Drive and Western Avenue planned by T.B.S. Highland Properties Inc.;

a 600-foot condominium tower planned by the Corrigan Trust for Flamingo and Wynn roads;

a mixed-use complex including 325-foot towers planned for Procyon Street and Spring Mountain Road planned by the Trism II Limited Partnership;

a 559-foot condominium project planned for Valley View Boulevard and Hotel Rio Drive by Rio Drive Inc.;

a 336-foot condominium project planned for Industrial Road and Harmon Avenue by J3 Harmon Limited Liability Co.;

a 572-foot condominium tower and a 371-foot hotel tower at Sahara Avenue and Joe W. Brown Drive planned by J G N K Investments Nevada Limited Liability Co.;

a 528-foot resort hotel planned for Harmon Avenue and Lamar Circle to be developed by L.A. Pacific Center Inc.

Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald voted with the majority on the high rises, but expressed concern that the flood of such projects could spell problems for the regional transit system. She said planners with the Regional Transportation Commission, which runs the area's bus system and has plans to beef up transit with light-rail and other projects, will have to work to accommodate the new potential commuters.

She also told developers that she would be looking for wider easements on the roads serving the high-rise developments to accommodate extra bus lanes or more traffic.