Las Vegas leery of hillside blasting

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

As Las Vegas grows into the surrounding mountains, city planners are drafting rules for building on hillsides that could take the explosiveness out of the issue - literally.

For residents who live near blast sites, the use of explosives to ready hillside areas for development is a noisy and sometimes jarring experience. Late last year, for example, a blast mishap in the Canyons development in Henderson prompted more than 130 residents to submit damage claims involving cracked drywall, broken glass and damaged doors.

For developers, however, blasting is considered the best and often only practical way to clear space for construction on a rocky hill. Without that option, development on some hillsides could be stymied.

That choice might not be available to builders in Las Vegas, however, under the proposed hillside development ordinance taking shape at City Hall. The proposed ordinance would ban blasting, Margo Wheeler, planning and development director, said.

The blasting ban would be the first in the valley. Among local hillside development regulations, Henderson and Clark County's rules do not address blasting.

Not surprisingly, the possibility that a ban might be included in Las Vegas' ordinance has riled some in the development community.

"That takes out the issue of building on hillsides," Robert Gronauer, a lawyer who frequently represents developers before local councils, said of the potential ordinance.

"Nobody wants to blast, but sometimes you might need to do some blasting. I could see that being an issue."

Specifics over other thorny matters such as how close to a ridgeline development could occur or the maximum steepness of slopes available for construction still are being hashed out as city staffers draft the proposal.

Councilman Larry Brown's ward includes most of the land that would be affected, an area west of the Las Vegas Beltway, mostly between Lake Mead Boulevard and Kyle Canyon Road. However, the likely expansion of the city's boundaries probably would include more hills.

Brown said that while he would prefer no blasting for hillside developments, any ordinance should allow for exceptions to the regulations. The intent of the ordinance, he added, should be to "set general criteria" that protect hillsides.

Gronauer, echoing the sentiment of others, agreed it is important for any new regulations to account for exceptions, "to be flexible for the what-if scenario."

Henderson Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers, too, sees the need for flexibility "because not every mountain is the same." The Henderson and county hillside development regulations allow for waivers.

The proposed Las Vegas ordinance could reach the council within a few months.

"One, we want to protect the ridgeline, the physical views. And two, we don't want anyone to take a mountain and level it off," Wheeler said about the primary intentions behind the proposed ordinance.

Meanwhile, the city currently is reviewing a proposed development that highlights the need for such regulations. Caballos de Oro Estates would include 30 town homes on 5 acres at the base of a hill just west of the beltway and Cheyenne Avenue.

To date, the prospective developers have had to request six land-use changes or waivers from existing regulations. Having a hillside-development ordinance in place would probably not only greatly reduce the paperwork, but also make clear exactly what development the city would find acceptable.

Maren Parry, an attorney representing Caballos de Oro, said the company has agreed not to do any blasting for the proposed development. But like others, Parry said a blasting ban would pose difficulties for future projects.