Rejected developer has new plan for Las Vegas

Dan Kulin

Monday, March 7, 2005 | 10:53 a.m.

The last time the Ambling Co. went before the Las Vegas City Council, the company's proposed development for land at Alta Drive and Martin Luther King Boulevard was rejected after neighboring property owners rose up in opposition.

Council members, particularly Lawrence Weekly, said the developers were apparently misled into thinking their project would easily win approval. The city employee who had worked with Ambling on the project resigned two days later.

Now, the Atlanta-based company is preparing to head back to the council with a new plan for the property, and this time the company seems to have the support of many neighbors, thanks to a drastic reduction in the height of the proposed buildings.

Company representatives have also met three or four times during the last few months with neighbors and their neighborhood association to present the latest plan and to work out some of the details of the new plan.

Ambling is proposing to build three nine-story buildings and one five-story building on the roughly 17 acres just off the northwest corner of the intersection of Alta and Martin Luther King. The buildings would have space for retail shops plus 664 condominiums, according to plans submitted to the city.

Those plans are on pace to go before the city Planning Commission on April 28, and then to the City Council on June 1, said Flinn Fagg, an urban design coordinator with the city's Planning and Development Department.

In December, the council rejected Ambling's proposal to build three 28-story buildings with more than 800 condominiums on the land. At that time, council members and neighbors alike said they got the feeling that Ambling officials considered their approval "a done deal."

Two days after the council vote, the city's Economic Development Manager Doug Lein, who had been dealing with Ambling on the project, resigned from his nearly $83,000-a-year position and received an extra month of paid leave.

Neighbors also complained that the 28-story buildings would tower over nearby residences, and stare down into many backyards.

Jean Zorn, president of the Rancho Manor Neighborhood Association, said the latest plan is much more acceptable.

"It's sitting much better with the neighbors, being nine stories instead of 28," Zorn said. "And the communication has been much better."

Zorn and other neighbors had complained that Ambling representatives did not bring the first proposal to the neighbors early enough -- a concern alleviated this time around by Ambling's meetings with neighbors during the last two months.

"There has been wide-open communication," Zorn said.

Zorn said they still want to discuss some traffic issues, such the exact location of entrances and exits to the property, but said overall the plan is an improvement.

Association member Frank Perone said he didn't understand how Ambling could drastically change their plans after previously saying the three 28-story buildings were the least they could afford to build on the land.

But, he said, the new proposal seems to be well received by the neighbors.

"From what the neighbors are saying they seem pretty well content with it," Perone said.

Attempts to reach Ambling representatives on Friday were unsuccessful.