Striking gold in Boulder City?

Thursday, April 6, 2006 | 6:49 a.m.

It's not even on the ballot yet, but if a proposed land sale reaches Boulder City voters in November, it may not be necessary to wait for exit polls to predict a landslide.

The reason: A yes vote could mean between $750,000 and $3 million for every man, woman and child - even unborn - in Boulder City.

If this were Chicago, that would really give the dead a reason to vote.

As might be expected, however, there are several big "buts" standing between Boulder City voters and that projected giant payday at the polls.

It's not clear the plan is legal, and it's far from certain that the numbers involved, financial and otherwise, would be nearly as huge as proponents suggest. And even if the idea were legal, some officials see it as primarily an electoral gambit aimed at defeating a City Council-backed alternative.

"I don't think much of it," Mayor Robert Ferraro said of the proposal. "Unfortunately, I think a lot of people would vote for it. Hopefully, there are enough people that would realize the land here is a tremendous asset and needs to be protected."

Under the plan by the Coalition to Protect the Future of Boulder City, the city would sell as much as possible of 107,000 city-owned acres of undeveloped land in Eldorado Valley, with the proceeds to be distributed to the community's 15,000 residents.

The group - the same one that has rallied against development inside and outside of Boulder City - predicts that in addition to the $750,000-plus for every Boulder City resident, the land sale would produce enough money to pay for a $300 million freeway bypass, retire the city's debt and set up a $300 million trust fund for their local government's operation.

The group's co-chairman, Sherman Rattner, sent a letter Wednesday to Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen outlining plans to launch a petition drive next week for placing the measure on the ballot. The group needs 692 signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot, city officials said.

Even if the coalition secured enough signatures, the city is expected to challenge the initiative in court. The city's charter, Olsen noted, requires that proceeds from land sales go into the city's capital improvement fund, meaning the money could not be divvied up among residents.

Olsen and other city officials accused Rattner's group of using the ballot initiative as a strategy to defeat a council-backed plan that enables the city to swap 1,500 acres it owns at Dutchman's Pass - seven miles from Boulder City's nearest development - for Las Vegas Valley land owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

The city in turn would swap the BLM land for 720 acres just three miles from the nearest development where American West Homes proposes to build 3,800 lower-priced homes in unincorporated Clark County for teachers and other professionals.

"On one side, they have been trying to protect land from development, and now they want to sell land - this is ridiculous," Olsen said of the group.

"I think it is clearly being done to confuse the voters regarding our land swap and defeat it. This is nothing more than a ploy. It is total baloney."

American West Homes' attorney Chris Kaempfer said that if the group's proposal led to the defeat of the city's land-swap plan, it would enhance the chances of broader development in the Eldorado Valley.

"That opens Eldorado Valley to the very thing they are trying to protect it from," Kaempfer said.

But Kaempfer also was quick to joke that if the group succeeded in placing the measure on the ballot, Boulder City's population could quickly soar through an influx of people hoping to take advantage of a windfall.

"Boulder City won't be 15,000 - it will be 50,000," Kaempfer said.

Rattner dismisses suggestions that his group hopes to confuse voters, insisting it is simply trying to give residents options.

His group also plans a second ballot initiative urging Boulder City to protect Eldorado Valley from development.

Rattner said he does not want the land in question developed, but fears that the city is moving in that direction.

Only two months ago, Ferraro proposed that the city sell Dutchman's Pass to get the money needed to expedite construction of a freeway bypass to relieve projected future traffic congestion.

If residents and city leaders do not want to stop growth, Rattner said, the people of Boulder City should at least benefit.

"This is about giving the people a choice," Rattner said.

"If the people of Boulder City are not willing to stand up right now, development will happen piece by piece.

"It is do-or-die time. If people aren't willing to defend the valley, then here is a fallback. It can be turned into something wonderful."

The city could protect itself from development by structuring land sales so that there would be an open space buffer between Boulder City and the nearest development, Rattner said. That would reduce the amount of land available for sale, preserving Dutchman's Pass, he said.

Rattner estimates that the roughly 100,000 acres of land available for sale under his group's plan would be worth $500,000 an acre, or up to $50 billion.

Most recent federal auctions of large parcels in Henderson and North Las Vegas, however, fetched about half that price per acre. If the initiative passed, about 90 percent of the land sale proceeds would go to the city's 15,000 residents, with the rest being spent on the bypass, city debt and trust fund, Rattner said.

"If it was legal, I would be tempted to vote for it," city attorney Olsen conceded. "I have four people in my house. We could be getting millions."

Rattner argues that because the land was obtained from the federal government, the proceeds from the sale could be distributed to residents. He cited what he regards as a parallel situation in Alaska, where the state distributes oil revenue to residents.

Olsen, though, maintains that only Dutchman's Pass and a limited amount of the city land could be sold for development.

About 85,000 acres obtained a decade ago from the Colorado River Commission have been set aside for a Desert Tortoise Preserve, but Rattner argues that the preserve could be moved to the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.

Development on any land sold, however, would be limited by a city ordinance restricting construction to 120 homes a year. That, Olsen said, is not going to attract developers.

Add it all up, and seven months before the polls open, prudent voters are left with one message: Don't start pricing the Lamborghinis just yet.

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