Mayor rocks BC’s growth philosophy

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006 | 12:33 p.m.

When Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro suggested two weeks ago that his city sell land to developers to fund a $300 million freeway bypass, community leaders attending his State of the City address were shocked.

That's because Ferraro's proposal to sell the 1,531-acre Dutchman's Pass runs counter to the civic mind-set in Boulder City, a city of 15,000 that shuns development with an ordinance limiting construction to only 120 homes per year.

While Ferraro's plan to speed construction of the highway to relieve traffic congestion remains under consideration by the Boulder City Council, any city funding of the freeway bypass will have to wait. The increased traffic is expected in two years from commercial trucks and commuters from planned residential development in Arizona.

Ferraro and the City Council on Tuesday tentatively decided it would rather focus for now on using a portion of Dutchman's Pass, about seven miles from the city's nearest development, for a land swap with a developer.

The city is moving to stop American West Homes' plan to build up to 3,800 houses in unincorporated Clark County just three miles from the nearest development in Boulder City. The developer will be free to pursue that plan once a county moratorium expires at the end of the year.

Boulder City voters will be asked in November to approve swapping a portion of Dutchman's Pass to the Bureau of Land Management for a possible expansion of the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.

The BLM would in turn give American West Homes scattered parcels of developable land in the Las Vegas Valley, and American West would give to Boulder City its 720 acres, which would be preserved as open space.

The negotiations among the city, BLM and American West are ongoing, but no deal is pending. The developer has raised concerns about the size and location of BLM parcels, City Manager Vicki Mayes said.

Ferraro said he is not dropping his proposal to sell Dutchman's Pass to generate tens of millions of dollars for the bypass, but he believes there has not been enough time for city officials and the public to discuss his idea. To place the measure on the November ballot, the council had to act fast.

"I think it is a little too soon." Ferraro said. "I just wanted to get people to start talking about it and thinking about it. There hasn't been enough time for that to happen."

Putting the bypass issue on the ballot along with the BLM land swap would confuse voters and hurt chances of both issues passing, Ferraro added.

A land swap would not stop the bypass measure from possibly going before voters in June 2007, Ferraro said. There is plenty of land to do both a swap with the BLM and sale to developers, he said.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, recently spoke with Ferraro about his bypass plan and encouraged him to continue pursuing it.

"He thinks that it's an idea worth looking into to add to the funding for this project," said Reid spokeswoman Sharyn Stein.

Ferraro has suggested two possible funding schemes: Making the bypass a toll road with the money going to Boulder City to help recoup its investment, or keeping it as a freeway, with the city loaning some of the money to the federal government for the project.

Because of a lack of federal funds, construction of the 10-mile bypass is not expected to start until 2025.

Two weeks after he unveiled it, Ferraro's bypass funding proposal remains Topic No. 1 in Boulder City.

"It is obviously a hot issue out here," said Jill Lagan, executive director of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce. "This can have quite an impact on commerce but also on quality of life.

"We are sitting here with a population of 15,000. If you increase those numbers, that changes Boulder City, (which) views itself as this small, clean, green community that it is."

Al Stevens, the co-owner of The Coffee Cup cafe, said while new subdivisions would create more potential customers, he fears it would open the door to even more development.

"When the mayor announced it, everyone was shocked," said Stevens, a Boulder City resident since 1977. "A lot of people thought it was pretty crazy - that funding a freeway is something the federal government should do. But I would say at this point it is split 50-50 down the middle."

Lon Hooker, a 10-year Boulder City resident, said he sees merit in the mayor's bypass plan, given the heavy truck traffic that will be rolling through town. Dutchman's Pass is so far away from where the city's residents live that any development there won't hurt the city's small-town setting, he said.

Brian Wargo can be reached at 259-4011 or at wargo@lasvegassun.com.