Zoning board OKs changes to Mountain’s Edge park plans

By Dylan Scott

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010 | 5:22 p.m.

Construction on a 20-acre park at Mountain’s Edge, a master-planned community in the southwest valley, is set to begin within 90 days following the Clark County zoning board’s approval Wednesday of an amended agreement between the county and the developer.

The amendment set a completion date of June 2012 for Nathaniel Jones Park and changed the financing for future parks in Mountain’s Edge. Focus Property Group, the developer, previously charged park fees when building permits were issued, but the county will now collect a residential construction tax from new homebuilders to establish a specific fund for two more planned parks.

No definite timeline exists, however, for when those other two parks will be built. Construction will begin when the tax fund reaches a certain threshold, which in turn depends on how many homes are built.

Sales at Mountain’s Edge, the No. 1 selling community in the U.S. in 2007 and 2008, dropped from 2,300 in 2005 to 600 in 2009.

The county also released Focus from its previous obligation to build 25 acres of Mountain’s Edge Regional Park upon completion of Nathaniel Jones Park.

Several Mountain’s Edge residents spoke in protest of the new agreement, which they said affected more than the plans for parks. The amendment deleted language stipulating that Focus construct all roadways within the development.

Residents, including Nathan Sosa, a local attorney, pointed out roads in Mountain’s Edge that remain unfinished, although drivable, and others that have not been constructed at all. More work is needed, they said, and the amendment doesn't guarantee Focus will complete roadway construction.

Assistant district attorney Rob Warhola said a new section replaced the missing language. Focus is still responsible for completing transportation improvements, he said, as laid out in its other agreements with the county.