Attitude change a sign of NLV’s growth

By Mike Trask

Monday, March 31, 2008 | 2 a.m.

North Las Vegas Councilman William Robinson voted in favor of the 1988 development agreement that will likely allow 320 apartments to be built at Centennial Parkway and Revere Street.

“There was excitement,” Robinson said. “All our young people were moving out of North Las Vegas. There wasn’t the kind of housing they wanted. Naturally, we were very excited about it.”

The agreement was part of a deal that led to the creation of Eldorado, the city’s first master-planned community.

It was a long time ago, when there wasn’t much in North Las Vegas except miles of vacant desert and a gritty inner city. The city wanted desperately to grow and find a way to shed its unsavory image.

But times have changed. Today North Las Vegas is the fastest-growing city in the country, according to U.S. Census figures, with thousands of middle-class homes and a population that tops 215,000.

With that growth have come new problems — the biggest of which, this month at least, is the big apartment complex planned for the area surrounded by single-family homes.

Neighbors are protesting the plan, saying the development would ruin their quality of life, cause traffic havoc and further crowd schools.

City officials say there is probably nothing they can do to block the plan. While city attorneys are reviewing the 20-year-old development agreement, attorneys for Pardee, the company that plans to sell the land to the apartment complex developer, have threatened a lawsuit if the apartments are denied.

“I can’t remember exactly what happened way back then,” said Robinson, who has served on the council since 1983. “But as for development agreements, that was our first one. I’m the only one left from way back then. But I’m probably more upset than the residents.”

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The Red Mountain Music Company will host meetings April 28 and May 19 at Boulder City Hall to discuss the controversial plan to build a 536-seat theater at the former Los Angeles Water and Power Building on Nevada Way.

The plan aims to redevelop the 68-year-old building while adding artistic flavor to the quaint town.

But it has met resistance from neighbors who say a theater would lead to traffic jams and parking nightmares.

The residents and the music company now are considering other locations in Boulder City, including one in a park near the city library, another on Adams Boulevard near the Boulder Creek Golf Course and a third at a site on Veterans Memorial Parkway.

The Boulder City Council has voted to support the theater but not to enter into any lease for the building.

The Water and Power Building once served as administrative offices for Hoover Dam operators.

Today it has a small stage and offices for the music company, along with a food pantry. Both the music and the aid groups use the city-owned space for free. The city uses a courtyard for storage and houses its code enforcement department at the site.

The State Historic Preservation Office would have to sign off on any major changes to the building.

The music company will perform “You Can’t Stop the Beat: Contemporary Broadway Hits” on May 10 at the building.

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Former Boulder City Councilman Bill Smith has purchased the site of the old Arco gas station at Buchanan Boulevard and U.S. 93, the city’s busiest corner.

But it’s probably going to be a few years before Smith, who paid $885,000 for the land, is able to do anything with it.

Although the gas station has been closed for several years, Arco has three years left on its lease, which Smith is trying to buy out.

Despite the probable delay, many in the city are celebrating the purchase. The vacant site makes for an unattractive gateway to Boulder City for those coming from Las Vegas and Henderson. Perhaps the only ones to disagree would be the pigeons that have made it a home.

“That whole entrance to town isn’t very nice,” Smith said. “A lot can be done with it.”

Smith hopes to eventually lease the location to a business such as a restaurant or coffee shop.