Henderson approves apartments for casino workers

Controversial workforce project to be built with fewer units than initially planned for

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008 | 8:09 a.m.

A controversial apartment complex proposed south of Fiesta Henderson will be built, but with fewer units than the developers wanted.

The Henderson City Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to approve 252 units for the complex. Land owner Station Casinos and developer Trammell Crow Co. had requested 380 apartments on 10.5 vacant acres south of the Fiesta Henderson, at Lake Mead Parkway and U.S. 95, to provide housing for Station employees.

Residents of neighborhoods south and east of the parcel had opposed the proposal, arguing that it was too dense and that it would increase traffic and crime in the area while decreasing property values.

The Henderson Planning Commission, which reviewed the project last month, had granted a conditional use permit to allow an apartment complex on the site and recommended it be approved for 380 units on the condition that Station and Trammell Crow guaranteed the project would be workforce housing and that it give Station employees the first right to live there.

The Planning Commission has the final say on use permits, so the question for the council was not whether apartments would be built, but how many.

“Our hands are somewhat tied on this,” Councilman Andy Hafen said.

Attorneys for Station and Trammell Crow argued that the Planning Commission’s decision gave them the right to build 380 units as long as they complied with the workforce housing condition, but Mayor James B. Gibson disagreed.

“It’s going to be impossible to convince me that anything more than the lower density should be granted,” he said.

Gibson then asked attorneys to talk with Station and Trammell Crow, who had representatives present, and ask them to accept the city’s standard apartment zoning of 24 units per acre to avoid having the matter go to court.

After talking it over with representatives of the two companies, attorney Tom Amick consented.

“(Station and Trammell Crow) believe in this project,” Amick said. “They believe in the value of this project and in the value it will bring to Station employees. They don’t want it to go away simply because we can’t get the 38 units (per acre).”

The City Council added the conditions that the complex be gated and that developers work out a workforce housing guarantee approved by Henderson City Attorney Shauna Hughes.

The council’s unanimous approval elicited cheers from 42 Station Casinos employees in the audience who favored the project and accepting nods from some who had opposed it. Some residents and City Council members made the case that an apartment complex is probably the best project that could be hoped for on the site, which is bordered by a casino, a freeway, a railroad line and a residential neighborhood.

Station already had the right to expand the Fiesta Henderson into the lot because of its Tourist Commercial zoning, council members said.

"I think that the expansion of the casino back into that neighborhood would be far more detrimental to the neighborhood than multi-family housing," Councilman Jack Clark said.

Ten residents from the surrounding neighborhoods spoke against the proposal, and when the last asked for a show of hands from the audience from those who opposed it, a few dozen hands went up.

“We have a master-planned community,” resident Gene Emelko said. “To override that plan for the economic benefit of a land owner is simply not right. Constructing high-density apartments is not consistent with the character of the neighborhood.”

When attorneys asked for those who were in favor of the project to raise their hands, the number was close to the number of those who opposed it, but neighbors pointed out that all but a small handful of those who favored it didn’t live in the neighborhood.

Dallas Holmes, a Fiesta Henderson employee and UNLV student, said neighbors in the area would be happy to live next to the kind of people who work at the casino, and said such a project is long overdue.

“We look for affordable housing for teachers, for firefighters and police, but what about the ones who built this city – the hospitality industry?” he said. “We’re being priced out this valley, but we’re the backbone of its economy.”

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

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By RefinedArtist

9/17/08 at 12:40 p.m.

Suggest removal

Maybe if Station Casinos paid their employees fairly, they wouldn't need to build "workforce housing" or a "factory dormitory" which is what this project sounds like to me.
By dave202

9/17/08 at 12:47 p.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By LVBear

9/17/08 at 4:02 p.m.

Suggest removal

"One Fiesta Henderson employee who identified himself as a UNLV student said neighbors in the area would be happy to live next to the kind of people who work at the casino, and said such a project is long overdue. ... We look for affordable housing for teachers, for firefighters and police ..."

No thanks, I would not want to live near a cluster of casino employees, many of whom are bottom-of-the-barrel, marginally employable slugs. This individual compares casino workers to teachers, firefighters and police. Ridiculous. This is an outrage. The people around this absurd project should let Station Casinos know with their pocketbooks that they do not appreciate what is essentially low-income housing, destined to become a slum, being foisted upon their neighborhood.

Shame on Station Casinos. It has never been a good corporate citizen, routinely trampling the communities it plunders, but this has gone over the top. I hope the voters in Henderson remember the councilfolks who voted for this monstrosity, and fire them at the next election.

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By azsk8fan

9/18/08 at 11:26 a.m.

Suggest removal

This really cracks me up - now they're building 'affordable housing' for the POOR casino worker?? WTF - granted their base pay rate may be just about minimal but why do you think they clamor for those jobs - TIPS - get it? Why you think people can't even get a job as a valet parker without having an 'in' - same reason - TIPS - hell, they could forego the hourly rate and work for tips and still make more than quite a few people living out here. Does anyone remember the show about GVR - on tv and how the cocktail waitress/bartender in the high limit room was pulling in over 400,000 a yr. and how all the other cocktail waitresses wanted a chance to bid for that position - it's amazing that people can rake it in on TIPS and then cry poor - all the way to the bank.
By azsk8fan

9/18/08 at 11:47 a.m.

Suggest removal

Refined, don't lose any sleep worrying about the poor under-paid casino workers - really - there is a valid reason why they are willing to work for such a low hourly rate. Don't waste your pity - if I could drive a stick shift and if I had the 'juice' I'd get me a job as a valet parker - and wouldn't have to worry about low rate housing - I'd live in a nice house :)
By Brittanicus

9/18/08 at 1:34 p.m.

Suggest removal

Hopefully (ICE) Immigration and Customs enforcement, makes a nice journey to Henderson to check out these workers. The entertainment industry has a bottom line--profit, and when I was working as a floor manager at the Stratosphere many of the workers there could not speak a word of English. A leasure magazine more or less admitted hiring hundreds of illegal foreign nationals, so my guess is they are settling in this new complex. Parasite employers are stealing jobs from citizens and residents and must be held accountable.

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By Lemmy

9/19/08 at 10:33 p.m.

Suggest removal

What you two idiots above dont understand is that the government taxes tip earners on the tips that they make. So all the tips you think they are making the government takes a way on there pay checks. Sounds like you two might be a little jealous of them. Remember they are the ones that serve you your food and make you your drinks when you are eating out. You tip to ensure proper service and not get a warm beer or cold food when you are out. Remember that next time you are out and complain about someone making tips.
By FearNot

9/20/08 at 10:15 p.m.

Suggest removal

LVBear, azsk8fan and Brittanicus are barking at the wind.

Really, ask virtually any child to look at the LV skyline at night and ask them if they know what all those lights are. Bet it doesn't take more than a couple questions and answers for them to identify what the primary economic generator is for greater LV. Like or not, gaming isn't just woven into the fabric of the LV valley, it's the proverbial blanket. There are few of us left who can remember LV as anything other than a community with an independent spirit, but one also steeped in a long history of gaming and hospitality.

I'm not a casino employee and never have been. But I do know that a significant number of the people we live next to, grocery shop with, dine beside, worship with and wave to (lovingly I'm sure) as we cruise down the highway do. As you travel that highway it's easy for those same children who can recognize the impact of gaming/hospitality to also see LV has a serious pollution problem. The concept of placing housing right next door to existing concentrations of employment is about the most sound environmental policy we Americans have not only the courage to adopt, but probably one of the few steps we can take without stirring those with far greater financial resources and having them quash our efforts.

My wife died of lung cancer at an early age. She was a life-long non-smoker and was otherwise terrifically healthy. She left me with 4 and 8 year old daughters. I'm blessed to have them and would like nothing more than to have them stay close to my home. The idea that I could have lived immediatly adjacent my home and seen them at breakfast, lunch and dinner; cared for them when sick, and still been as valuable an employee as those who had lost an hour or two a day to long commutes would have been a God send. However, it saddens me to say with our poor air quality I'm not sure that's in their best interest nor the best interests of their children.

The lack of citizen/voter courage to step up and make the relatively small changes (like supporting projects that are as beneficial to continuing and improving our way of life as this one obviously is) and I might add, at absolutely no financial cost to us as taxpayers is discouraging.

The suggestion that this housing development is somehow "low inclome" or anything other than top of the line is dead wrong). You can see that for yourself by looking at the product provided to the city for review and at the prior work this developer done. The suggestion that this housing development is somehow "low inclome" or anything other than top of the line is dead wrong). You can see that for yourself by looking at the City web site and looking at product provided to the city by the developer.

Extremists come in all genders, shapes, colors, sizes, faiths, ancestry and political party affiliation(s). Don't let them scare you. Challenge them to do what you know to be right.
By BugMeTons

9/21/08 at 3:08 a.m.

Suggest removal

Honestly, both sides are right on this issue. Station hopes to draw employees with affordable housing but it's obviously because they don't want to pay the wages that would make it worthwhile for someone to drive there on $4/gal gas.

Dealers at Fiesta make minimum wage. $40 in tips is a "good" night. Maquiladoras have come to America. Hooray Bush economy!

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