Plans pulled for dorms at Henderson International School

By Jeremy Twitchell (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 | 1:54 p.m.

Henderson International School officials withdrew a hotly contested request Tuesday for an on-campus dormitory for 60 international students.

The action came after Mayor James B. Gibson stated in no uncertain terms that the council would not grant the proposal. The school appealed the request to the council after the Henderson Planning Commission rejected it Oct. 16.

The planning board said a dormitory would not be appropriate for the neighborhood around the school, 1165 Sandy Ridge Ave., near Eastern Avenue and Sunridge Heights Parkway.

The withdrawal means that Planning Commission's decision stands and the school cannot submit another application for a year.

"I can't see any reason for us not to follow the recommendation of the Planning Commission," Gibson said before the appeal was withdrawn.

After the meeting, Gibson said the council agreed with the Planning Commission ruling that dormitories would not be appropriate in the area.

"That is not a neighborhood that is well-suited for a mixed use," he said. "You don't come back to a neighborhood like that, which is established, and try to change the zoning."

School officials did not attend the meeting, but in an e-mail, Henderson International School Head Jon McGill said he would have liked more time to address the concerns neighbors raised.

"We have tried very hard to address every one of the neighbor issues that were directly related to Henderson International," he said. "Many were, in fact, not issues that came from our community."

The school is working with UNLV to create a residence program for international students, McGill said, and it may try again in the future to put dorms on campus.

"We will continue to work in good faith with neighbors of goodwill to ensure that we continue to be a good institutional citizen and a major asset for educational development in the Henderson/Las Vegas area," McGill said.

Gibson said future applications would not be any more likely to pass.

"We can't bind future councils, but I think that the likelihood of a repackaged dormitory application passing is remote," he said.

Gibson added that the city remains a strong supporter of Henderson International School.

"This is not to be taken as a rejection of the school or its programs, but that was just too dramatic a change," he said.

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or jeremy.twitchell@hbcpub.com.