LOOKING IN ON: SUBURBS

By Mike Trask (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

About 30 Boulder City business owners and residents have formed a group to push for a hotel on leased land near a city-owned golf course.

Although organizers say it is not a direct response to recent criticism about city leases, the new group - Boulder City Solutions - wants to put a positive spin on the small city.

"It seemed like we needed someone to offer some positive direction and focus on what's right with the city," real estate agent and member Rich Loudin said.

Many in the city have harshly criticized some of the town's vocal activists, including Sherman Rattner, the leader of the Coalition to Protect the Future of Boulder City. The coalition, which generated its first headlines two years ago with a proposal to sell 107,000 acres of desert land and give the profits to residents, is often referred to by its critics as CAVE - Citizens Against Virtually Everything.

Recently, Rattner and company have been opposing a 50-year lease for a Hawthorn Suites on two acres at the Boulder Creek Golf Course, arguing it would marry the city to the municipal course, which has not turned a profit. The lease would pay the city $173,000 annually.

Councilman Travis Chandler has initiated steps that would require future leases to be approved by voters. Voters already decide on city land sales.

Loudin said the new group wants to voice support for leases, with the initial focus on the Hawthorn deal.

"I think they have done a tremendous job creating income without selling land or allowing rampant growth," he said of the leases. "I don't know why there's all these naysayers."

It didn't take long for Henderson to find a replacement for longtime City Manager Philip Speight, who announced in August that he was leaving to become Rep. Jon Porter's chief of staff.

And the city didn't have to look far.

The City Council has appointed Assistant City Manager Mary Kay Peck to the position. Peck is the first woman to serve as Henderson city manager.

A contract will be negotiated and likely approved at the Oct. 16 council meeting.

A decision that could block future teen nightclubs in Henderson has been postponed.

City Council members requested that staff explore ways to require the nightclubs to carry special liability insurance. It also is considering banning the clubs within 600 feet of any business with a liquor or gaming license or that is sexually oriented.

The lone teen nightclub in the city, Frozen 75 on Sunset Road, would not be affected by the change. City zoning laws allowed it to open last year, although several council members questioned the location, between a discount liquor store and a small casino.

The Henderson Planning Commission has approved a permit for a rock crusher in MacDonald Ranch that had been operating illegally for more than six months.

The machine is helping clear the way for nearly 300 houses. However, some neighbors have complained about the noise from the crusher and tractor-trailers taking crushed rock from the site.

The crusher is less than 600 feet from some residents' back yards. But the developer's representatives said moving the crusher would create more truck traffic because the vehicles would be carrying less - dense material.