Proposed development concerns residents, environmentalists

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

Mount Charleston residents and environmentalists expressed concern of the proposed development in the northwest of Las Vegas after a federal land auction sold a 1,710-acre parcel at the gateway to their Spring Mountain homes.

John Ritter of Forcus Property Group successfully placed a $510 million bid Wednesday with the Bureau of Land Management on the land south and east of Kyle Canyon Road off U.S. Highway 95.

"It's horrible," long-time Las Vegas resident and cabin owner Thalia Dondero said of the proposed development.

Traffic from mountain visitors is snarled on the two-lane Kyle Canyon Road already.

When snow fell last month, Dondero said she saw both sides of the two-lane road leading to the Mount Charleston Lodge packed with cars on a 13-mile stretch, because there are no parking lots for those who wish to wander in the wilderness.

"If the mountain is packed with people, how are they going to get out of their homes?" Dondero said.

A former Clark County commissioner and current university system regent, Dondero said local planners should think about preserving the wild areas for future generations.

"There has to be some quality of life left," Dondero said.

For Becky Grismanauskas, a 15 1/2-year Kyle Canyon resident, no matter how well planned a community would be, development is less than 18 miles away from sensitive areas such as Deer Creek Canyon, a portion of the Spring Mountains that was scheduled for a public auction or trade in the 1990s.

The U.S. Forest Service stepped in and refused to allow an access road across federal land to Deer Creek or power lines to be strung across protected wilderness.

"How can it (development) not spoil the area?" Grismanauskas said.

Her husband, Duffy, said, "It's time to move to Battle Mountain," referring to a small northern Nevada town.

Developer Ritter said that the Kyle Canyon Gateway project does not abut Kyle Canyon Road, the only access for residents and visitors traveling up to Mount Charleston's hiking trails, lodge and camping grounds.

"We won't use Kyle Canyon Road," Ritter said, explaining that new residents would have alternate routes to enter their homes.

Ritter said that he is a hiker, mountain biker and environmentalist and would carry ecological sensitivity into plans for the new community.

Environmentalists are concerned about urban sprawl.

"The best thing for urban design in this valley would be not building on the edge of town," Jane Feldman of the Sierra Club said of Southern Nevada's sprawl.

Developers, bankers and planners could use smaller parcels dotting the urban landscape to build multi-use high rises, Feldman said.

Although Feldman said she has "a lot of confidence" in the quality that the Focus Group will bring to the area.

"We can expect cutting edge development from Focus Group," she said.

The biggest challenge for the developer, Feldman said, will be routing traffic on major highways in the area.

If Ritter can incorporate mixed-used development so people can live and work in the area without driving, then there would be some relief from increasing traffic, Feldman said.

Las Vegas City Council candidate Steve Ross, seeking the Ward 6 seat that Councilman Michael Mack is vacating, said that he supports the master plan for development that includes water, energy and landscaping restrictions. Mack is not running for re-election in the spring election.

"If this land is developed in the right way, it should be a place where people can live, work and shop," Ross said.

Ross, a 42-year-old electrical contractor, called the plan "the kind of sensible growth that Las Vegas needs."

Developers will build all along Interstate 15 and everywhere in between until they run into federal lands or a ring around the valley first proposed by Nevada state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, Maichle said.

"Growth to me is feeding on itself," he said.