Friday, Feb. 3, 2006 | 12:30 p.m.
Faced with Boulder City's traffic getting much worse years before a $300 million freeway bypass to relieve congestion was to be built, Mayor Bob Ferraro wants his city to sell a coveted piece of land to construct the highway sooner rather than later.
The proposal, unveiled Wednesday during Ferraro's State of the City address, already is generating controversy in the city of 15,000, where many residents frown on development both inside and outside their borders.
Ferraro recommended that the city sell the 1,531-acre Dutchman's Pass, located about seven miles from Boulder City's nearest development, to generate funds that could be used to speed up construction of a 10-mile bypass.
He also suggested two possible funding schemes: making the bypass a toll road, with the money going to Boulder City to help the city recoup its investment, or keeping it a freeway for which the city essentially would loan the federal government the dollars needed to expedite its construction.
Because of the amount of money needed and lengthy approval process required to fund new freeway projects at the federal level, the bypass currently is not scheduled to start until 2025 and would not be completed until 2028.
That is two decades after a new bridge downstream from Hoover Dam is expected to start sending 2,000 trucks - and 8,000 vehicles overall - rolling through Boulder City on U.S. 93 daily. The bridge is to be completed in 2008.
Officials with the Nevada Transportation Department are intrigued by Ferraro's unusual proposal. Kent Cooper, the department's assistant director, said while the federal government would not participate in a toll road project, the state would be willing to consider that option.
"It would depend how it is laid out and how long it is paid for with tolls," Cooper said. "I applaud Boulder City for pursuing options in regards to financing this project. That is a huge amount of money."
Last month, Ferraro had urged the Transportation Department to consider making the bypass a toll road. Cooper said then, however, that it would take at least several times more traffic than the initial 8,000-vehicles-a-day volume to support a state-funded toll road.
Boulder City officials believe that planned communities that will add tens of thousands of homes in Arizona will substantially increase the new bridge's traffic.
As for Boulder City using funds as seed money for projects, Cooper said other cities have pledged tens of million of dollars for highway projects with no expectation of getting reimbursed. He said the idea of fronting money expected to be reimbursed creates the perception that local governments can buy their projects.
Boulder City officials said they have no idea what Dutchman's Pass would fetch if made available for development. But given that the price of federal land at recent auctions has approached $300,000 an acre, the property southeast of Henderson might be worth more than $400 million, officials said.
"I don't think we can wait 20 years to find funding to do the bypass," Ferraro said. "With the communities proposed on the Arizona side of the dam, we are going to be inundated with traffic. It will be a mess for 20 years, and we can't afford that."
Councilman Mike Pacini called the suggestion a great idea that could make the bypass a reality much sooner.
"The mayor has lit the fuse," Pacini said. "If a small city went to the federal government with $100 million to do this project, that will get (its) attention."
Rhodes Homes has won approval from Mohave County to build 20,000 homes 28 miles from Hoover Dam and another 88,000 near Kingman, about 80 miles from Boulder City. The homebuilder also is pursuing plans for another 19,000 homes even closer to Boulder City, and city officials fear other developers will propose additional projects.
Despite Ferraro's suggestion and interest among Boulder City council members in considering it, any land sale faces a major obstacle - Boulder City voters, who long have been wary of any development in the community.
The city's charter requires that any land sale of an acre or more be approved by voters. Ferraro said the issue could go on the ballot as early as November.
"Right now ... I doubt it would pass," Ferraro said. "The reason why is a lot of people aren't aware of the problems we face once trucks and commuters start going through Boulder City. I think then everyone will realize something has to be done."
Ferraro's suggestion already has drawn stiff opposition from an anti-development group that vows to take the city to court if it even puts the land sale measure on the ballot.
Sherman Rattner, who heads the Coalition to Save the Future of Boulder City, contends that an agreement with the federal government when Boulder City acquired Dutchman's Pass and surrounding property a decade ago prevents the land from being developed - an assertion city officials dispute. Dutchman's Pass is adjacent to the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.
"This is like selling the crown jewels," Rattner said. "They want to sell out Boulder City and open the floodgates to developers."
Ferraro rejects the suggestion that selling Dutchman's Pass - which is not visible from developed Boulder City - would open the floodgates to development, emphasizing that voters would have to approve any city land sale. The city's ordinance also limits home construction to 120 units a year.
As a result, if Dutchman's Pass is sold, it likely would be annexed into Henderson to accommodate the scale of development anticipated, Ferraro said.
Last week, Boulder City rejected plans by a California golf course designer to lease Dutchman's Pass as part of a plan to build eight golf courses.
That is only one potential development in the area.
Under one plan, the city would give Dutchman's Pass to the Bureau of Land Management, which in turn would provide land elsewhere in the Las Vegas area to American West Homes, Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, a Boulder City resident, said.
As part of the land swap, the city would get American West's property - 720 acres in Eldorado Valley, adjacent to Boulder City's limits - enabling the city to head off a proposed massive subdivision near its borders.
Ferraro said he believes there is sufficient land in Dutchman's Pass to exchange some with American West and sell the remainder to fund the bypass.
Brian Wargo can be reached at 259-4011 or at [email protected].
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