Neighborhood called Serene fights threat to its peace, quiet

LEILA NAVIDI / LAS VEGAS SUN file

Earl Hodge walks his dog Snoopy in Serene Country Estates. A developer has given up plans to build a hotel adjacent to the enclave, but wants to build retail stores. That plan has been rejected, but an appeal is expected.

By Mike Trask

Monday, Sept. 1, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Serene Country Estates is one unique neighborhood in Southern Nevada. It sits hidden in a rural preservation district, surrounded by Interstate 215, Eastern Avenue and St. Rose Parkway.

Development may soon abut it, and that’s not making anyone in the neighborhood happy.

A developer owns land bordering Interstate 215 and the rear of a shopping center on Eastern — parcels just outside Serene Country Estates. The good news for the 160 homeowners in the neighborhood is it seems the developer’s plan for a five-story, 243-room hotel has been scrapped.

The bad news to them is that plan has been replaced by plans for retail stores.

Neighbors complain the businesses would bring traffic, noise and undesirable elements into their little preserve. The Clark County Zoning Commission agrees. It recently denied a request to change the zoning from rural residential to commercial.

Developers will likely appeal to the County Commission. The proposed development is on county land, although Serene Country Estates is in Henderson.

The homeowners promise they will always try to fend off developers.

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A month after the approval of a casino near the National Guard training ground in North Las Vegas, another casino is being planned along Interstate 15.

The North Las Vegas Planning Commission has approved an application to build a hotel at Centennial Parkway and Linn Lane, within shouting distance of the recently approved Miller Hotel and Casino, a 73-acre project planned for Sloan Lane and I-15.

Both projects would be part of an area unofficially called “Casino Alley,” a series of at least five casinos planned near Las Vegas Beltway and Interstate 15. The goal is to attract tourists coming from the north to the now-vacant land not far from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Owners of the new site, Casino Holding Group LLC, have signed a waiver acknowledging that the military’s activities may be loud, bright or odorous. (Casinos themselves may be loud and bright but they frown on things odorous.) A similar waiver was signed by the Miller Casino owners after months of debate.

The City Council must approve the new casino. A date for a public hearing has not been set.

Guardsmen say they still have concerns about security with a pair of tall hotels nearby. As part of a compromise reached in July, the Miller owners agreed to build an eight-foot-high block wall between the hotel and the training area.

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Boulder City is still trying to figure out how it will pay the roughly $25 million it will owe for a third water intake from Lake Mead. For the small town, $25 million is more than the total yearly budget.

But it will need to pay for the intake somehow if the city wants to keep the water running as the lake’s level continues to drop.

The city has found a traditional way to raise some money: increase water and sewer rates.

The city expects the rate hikes will net about $500,000 over the next year.

The sewer charge increase will be $5 a month to $14.65 starting Oct. 1. Water rates will change to a tiered system, similar to that used in Clark County, Las Vegas and Henderson. For the biggest users, water rates will increase by 36 percent. The lightest users will not face an increase.

Profits from the rates will be placed in a fund that can be used only for water or sewer projects. In addition to the money for the intake, the city needs $1 million in wastewater treatment plant upgrades and $1.5 million for new sewer lines.

When the city held a public hearing to discuss raising the rates, no residents spoke.