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Developer Jim Rhodes smiles on Blue Diamond Hill on Monday, May 5, 2003. Las Vegas can be seen in the background.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Jim and Glynda Rhodes
Sun archives
- Cancer Institute: Rhodes pledged $11 million, gave only $600,000 (5-5-2009)
- Rhodes’ lenders want him out (4-29-2009)
- Rhodes Homes files for Chapter 11 (4-10-2009)
- Rhodes homebuilding companies file for Chapter 11 (4-1-09)
Sun blogs
- Kats Report: Bankruptcy's a beach as Jim and Glynda hit Cabo (4-9-2009)
- Kats Report: No more $20,000 guitars? Rhodes' bankruptcy to be felt in uncharitable ways (4-3-2009)
Plans for a massive development near Red Rock Canyon — which vanished from public view after becoming mired in a lawsuit — are back.
But the five years that have passed since they were first introduced haven’t erased nearby residents’ disdain for Jim Rhodes’ plans to build homes on a couple of thousand acres of Blue Diamond Hill, the site of a gypsum mine near the Red Rock National Conservation Area.
In 2003, county commissioners quashed Rhodes’ plans to build up to 5,500 homes on 2,400 acres by passing an ordinance preventing development that would increase housing density within a 70-square-mile area dubbed the Red Rock Overlay District. The ordinance effectively kept anyone from building more than two homes per acre on the land.
In 2005, Rhodes’ company, Gypsum Resources LLC, sued the county over the ordinance.
In 2009, the Nevada law that enabled Clark County to restrict the development in the first place was struck down in court.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Rob Warhola said county lawyers saw the writing on the wall. Though the state is appealing that ruling, it “gave us a pretty good indication of the court’s viewpoint,” Warhola said.
The ruling loomed larger with Rhodes’ lawsuit scheduled for a May 3 trial.
The two parties talked during a court-ordered settlement conference and, as a result, an exception to the ordinance will be introduced today to the County Commission. No vote is scheduled until a public hearing is held April 21.
If the commission does, however, approve the exception, Warhola said, Rhodes could apply to build a more dense development — but only if it’s designated a “major project” and on 1,700 acres, not the entire 2,400.
The “major project” designation is key, Warhola said, because it allows more county oversight of development plans. “As a major project, (Rhodes) needs a development agreement so the county can control impacts on conservation, on Blue Diamond and the whole area.”
If the county chooses not to settle with Rhodes, then loses in court, Warhola said, it could lose that greater level of oversight.
So it was a compromise: Rhodes can only develop on 1,700 of the 2,400 acres, but the county gains greater control over any development.
Neither Rhodes nor the attorney representing him on the project could be reached for comment.
The prospect of homes going up on the land anytime soon is improbable. There’s a glut of homes in the valley, the economy is abysmal and investment money is scarce. A year ago, Rhodes filed for bankruptcy protection with $400 million in liabilities.
But for those with an eye on dominating future development in the Las Vegas Valley, setting aside land now could be key.
And activists opposed to development say there are no guarantees the county’s agreement will hold up once the economy bounces back.
Lisa Mayo Deriso, a local businesswoman and activist, said she has a hard time believing the county is sincere because neither she nor anyone else in the group Save Red Rock knew of the attempts to settle with Rhodes. The group formed in 2003 to oppose development so close to the popular outdoor recreation area.
“Why didn’t someone come to us months ago and say ... this is what’s going on?” she said.
As for the development restrictions, Deriso said she wants to see them in writing. “Until you have this entire deal in a public document, they’re going to have people standing at the podium questioning them.”
Scott Rutledge, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, said a lot of “public trust was gained” when residents persuaded the County Commission to approve the no-development ordinance in 2003. “So it’s incumbent upon our commission to vet this through a very open and public process.”
He also wondered if Commissioner Susan Brager, who represents the area and works as a real estate agent, should be allowed to vote on the matter in upcoming meetings.
County attorney Mary Ann Miller said no state law or county ordinance prevents Brager from voting.
Brager said she is going to hold a community meeting on the issue this month. She stressed she wants to hear “everyone’s opinion” and has not made up her mind “one way or the other.”
Just what we need, a bankrupt developer trying to build thousands of homes nobody wants.
Sounds like progress to me. IF he has enviro clearance, proper zoning, and the money lined up, I say let's put some people to work and go for it.
Remember 'the American way'?
My goodness has history taught us nothing?
They should put a lake out there. Cradle it with a couple of golf couses, a high-end Casino, a few hotels--I see no downside to this plan.
yep. we sure do need MORE homes in las vegas.
I'm thinking about making a "Jim Rhodes Voodoo Doll"...
History? Teaching? That would require things like schools and museums.
Rhodes needs to finish the developments he already has started that are still incomplete... Providence, Rhodes Ranch, and Mountain's Edge.
That development certainly would 'end' the reign of 4 wide bicyclists cruising on the State Highway 159 like its some sort of private cycling trail.
Seriously though, I think this is one of the last scenic rides in the valley even with the road hogging bicyclists. It's a nice ride through on my motorcycle on weekend mornings. a 5,500 home development would turn Hwy 159 upsidedown with the amount of traffic from residents.
This area needs to be reserved for the new replacement for Yucca Mountain.
What a great idea!
I find it hard to believe there is a need to develop new housing projects considering the available inventory around town which we're likely to have for some time.
How many of those home will be in foreclosure soon after their "purchase"?
I don't blame Mr. Rhodes as he's looking to make an American buck. I do however will hold the County Commission's feet under fire if this project goes through.
newsy97,
Progress? maybe you can work for him and he'll file for bankruptcy on what he owes you. He owes $400,000,000.00 most likely to the those who have already done work for him. Is that the American way? Do what you can to screw every one else over for your profit? Doesn't look like he or his wife sacraficed to pay some of those people back.
"Just what we need, a bankrupt developer trying to build thousands of homes nobody wants."
Exactly! Also, the construction defect suits against Rhodes Homes is extensive. Yeah....just what the valley needs - more homes constructed like crap at a high price.
I thought Jim Rhodes got run out of town on a rail.
What an outrage! This town is in the pocket of developers and casinos. Whatever they want, they get. Doesn't matter what the long-term consequences are to the environment, to the city's scarce resources, to the sustainability of Las Vegas. Like another poster said, this is a stucco ghetto. No city planning- all you see is the same cookie cutter developments everywhere and large empty lots throughout the city. There's no rhyme or reason to building in this town.
I'm not opposed to progress, but when a town leads the world in just about every bad housing index and has an economy at the whim of the gambling industry, and hasn't solved the hard questions and problems facing our communities, this is simply myopic and greedy.
And by the way, let's not kid ourselves about this "creating jobs." That's what Mr. Martini Glass and the county is going to say about this behemoth of a mistake. That is a short-term fix to placate voters now.
When everyone in Las Vegas is choking on their glass of sand because there's no water left due to rampant overdevelopment, today's local politicians will have cashed in their checks and will be laughing at us.
gmag...... I'll supply the pins
Blue Diamond is one of the few remaining nice places in the entire area around Las Vegas, and now this loser developer wants to destroy that. This is wrong!
Wow. First he built on top of toxic waste at Tuscany in Henderson. Which of course is a foreclosure disaster area. Near an old magnesium mine, too.
Now he wants to trick people to buy a house on a gypsum mine. Is there no end to his chicanery?
Jim and his wife, Glynda Bumpers should be ashamed. But con men have no shame. Just greed..
getalife, please use botulinum toxin on the tips!
the photos remind me of an old joke:
Q: Why do rich old men marry hot young women??
A: Because they can.
Rhodes originally purchased the land on Red Rock Hill understanding that he could do what he has always done, buy off the commissioners to change the zoning. Seven years ago, the fight to stop high denisty development was approved and remember this fight included the notorious Erin Kenny who was in Jim Rhodes pocket. He was paying her hundreds of thousands to battle this case for him. Looks like he is back to his old tricks. Well Jim, bring on the circus again. We will fight you with the same force as in 2003. SAVE OUR BEAUTY!
This man would sell his mother. Nothing is sacred to him. Someday, I would like to spit on some of his real estate. . .namely his grave!!
Brager could be the new Erin Kenny.
Great idea, let's build more homes for the affluent and make the Rhodes richer. How many people lost their jobs and homes due to Rhodes $400mil bankruptcy? How about a law that if you file bankruptcy you must pay back some of the money before you start creating more debt? Anyone who would work for this guy would be better off putting it all on red.
Where is the water coming from to support more mega homes that will have massive landscaping, big pools, waterfalls, and at least four bathrooms each?
There are many areas of Clark County that are available for development and that should be considered before desecrating Red Rock Canyon. Please vote against anyone who agrees to this development at Red Rock.
This was a scam from the beginning and continues to be: the area was never zoned for residential. Rhodes cares about money, not Las Vegas and likely already has Brager in his wallet...does anybody (including Brager and her constituents) not see a conflict in allowing her to vote? Can't wait to hear all the noise of a new development and see all the increased traffic and trash blowing around Red Rock Canyon!
good idea, rhodes, i'm sure there will be plenty of demand for a new residential development...in 20 years.
let him build the houses, he will go bankrupt doing so
And we need more homes built... Why?
He can get Erin Kenny to be VP of Marketing.
They could close the gypsum facility, put some of the acreage into Red Rock and some for homes.
Where is this land? Is there a map graphic?
"There's a glut of homes in the valley, the economy is abysmal and investment money is scarce. A year ago, Rhodes filed for bankruptcy protection with $400 million in liabilities."
Mr. Rhodes--
Please study the two preceding sentences, which appear in the above article about your plan. Now, take what money you may have left and go open a donut shop or something. Thanks!
Rhodes is a joke. Anyone considering buying a house from him needs to take a drive down to Tuscany in Henderson. I hope you like empty lots and dust. Tuscany will never be finished and he wants to start another large project? This man and his company should never be given a building permit again. Anyone who considers working or supplying for him needs to take a look at his bankruptcy record. If they still do business with him then they deserve to lose their shirt.
The only question is, will he find a way to actually build the houses on top of each other and still call them single-family residences? The ever-shrinking lot size in this town is disgusting. We don't have the jobs, hospitals, or schools to pack people into communities as tight as we do.
What's the status of his last bankruptcy? Didn't he end up screwing a ton of contractors?
SOS different day
Commission objects ineffectively and then goes to the grand opening party for the development.
I suggest the county implement new regs on land containing gypsum. Gypsum laced land is extremely unstable when subjected to water.....talk to the North Las Vegas city engineer on that one. They have houses that are STILL breaking in half 20 years after they were built.
He should be required to surround the entire plateau with a 50 foot thick environmentally friendly retaining wall 500 feet tall THEN scarp the first 500 feet off the mountain top and replace it with properly compacted type two....
This would provide a proper bed for the theoretical houses and probably make the place too expensive to build on.
Problem solved!
And as far as Susan Brager not having her mind made up yet "one way or the other" regarding this issue:
Sister, if you haven't made up your mind yet you deserved to be replaced. ASAP.
This is a link to one of the parcels:
http://gisgate.co.clark.nv.us/openweb/as...
Folks, the secrecy behind this is no different than Metro's shiny new building, Firefighter contracts, etc. It's all done behind closed doors, because the public is on a "need to know basis" and should trust the politicians. Vote in the primaries and in the general election!
FYI: No one cares about us "normal" people.
We're the slaves & serfs to rich people. There are no "Democrats" or "Republicans", there are Haves & Have-Nots.
Everyone complaining about the politicians who won't use common sense to stop another development by Mr. Bankruptcy should realize this:
The fix is in and if the politicians can make money on the side then they don't care what the normal people think. Constituents be damned, my pockets need to be lined.
It happens at the local, state, and federal level. It's nothing new, just get used to it or run for office and get that payday. Hopefully you'll outwit the modern day Elliot Ness and/or the IRS. These guys seem to think they can.
Like the politician said in Hunt for Red October: If I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops...
Red, white, and blue? More like greed, green, and white.
But it's been like that for hundreds of years. Is anyone really surprised anymore?
Have fun building another half-azzed development Jim. Fire a few ropes on Glynda for me. As Tucker Max said: I hope they serve beer in Hell.
I think a lot of Sun Stories need a map and/or an address like this one.
It is time to close all the area gypsum plants, so we can get our wallboard from China.
let him build the houses, he will go bankrupt doing so
He already IS in bankruptcy!!
Ugh! Isn't there some sort of endangered plant or animal out there that we can get some environmental group to sue this guy and his company in federal court over to gain in injunction to stop this construction project? Or at the very least stall it enough to either get Rhodes and/or his financial backers drug through an embarrassing, and public investigation of some sort (financial or otherwise) that ruins their reputations and prevents them from ever even thinking about real estate developments like this ever again?
Some of you have commented that ol' Jim would have the audacity to stiff the contractors that work for him. Well, you are right, however there is one contractor that probably doesn't get stiffed. That would be Spirit Underground. You might have seen them lately all over town performing work all across the valley. They have even gobbled up a lot of Public Works projects. Hmmm, they are super busy in a time when contractors are dropping like flies, dying on a vine. You can't be the low guy all of the time without doing it cheap, cheap, cheap! Don't get me wrong, they aren't entirely Jim Rhodes, but he certainly has his filthy hand in it. Would you believe that any company can start from scratch around 2003, and suddenly have revenues of over 30 million? They probably are upwards of $100 million these days. Wouldn't you know it, they did all of Rhodes' work since 2003 at Tuscany, Rhodes Ranch and in Arizona! Now they are benefiting from taxpayer money on many Public Works projects. Hats off to the American way!
What's wrong with this picture? We can't see his wife's newly installed bumpers. Didn't Jim pay for those hooters before he went bankrupt? Come on Sun, dig up those old pictures you have of Glynda in your archives.
When is "ENOUGH" enough? We'll never learn will we? And we wonder why we're in the position we're in. My my!
Yet more corruption. Total utter scam. We don't need another building in Las Vegas for 40 years probably. We have thousands of vacant houses, Condos, Retail and Industrial buildings.
The ONLY reason this is being built is because of self-interest. The community resoundingly does not want it, period.
Big money in laundromats these days, Jim. Why don't you go build a few of those instead.
To all you hippies out there....if you don't want the land developed, then buy it and preserve it.
If you don't privately own it, then who are you to dictate what others can do with their own property????
Noindex - I have no problem with this piece of land being developed. I have a problem with Rhodes developing it. He builds crappy houses and does not finish the communities he starts. He needs to be blacklisted from building anything in Nevada.
jaycooke...this is a free market society where people have choices. If the houses he built were that bad (I have no idea one way or another if they are) nobody would buy them and he would be out of business. No different than a restaurant that serves bad food....not going to last. I'm sure most people complain about their home builders.
My gripe is with those who don't own the land but try to control it anyway possible.
When and where is it written that this is necessarily a "free market society"? Show me that line somewhere in the Constitution.
Free Market Society? where? here? lol. Yes I am sure Applebees beat out all the other lesser quality competitors fair and square. I mean who can compete with potatoes served from an ice cream scoop? or Walmart, now there is a fine shopping experience! Having people who know your name and will go out of their way to service you were overrated I much prefer what the "free market" has served up.
Talk to me about private owner RE when the Gov cannot tax it or take it from you. Nobody owns jack people.
Noindex, restaurants don't make you sign a mortgage. If restaurants could get commitments in contracts, you could bet the crap would last. A contract only requires a good - and fast - salesman, not a good product.
Van_Guard is right. Unless we see Glynda's bumpers, we should not allow the bankrupt developer to destroy another pristine area. Let's face it, Jim is so old, he'll croak before anything is developed near Red Rocks.
And then we'll be able to see Glynda at a nightclub, looking for another old guy with money. Pitiful..
Can the county use emminent domain to prevent the development?
Noindex - people didn't buy Rhodes' homes in Tuscany. That is why he walked away from the project and later was forced to give the project to his creditors. The free market spoke to Jim Rhodes. We said NO. And now he wants to start another dustbowl to serve his ego and wallet.
"Big money in laundromats these days, Jim. Why don't you go build a few of those instead"
Good idea! Vegas is sorely lacking in Laundromats, the only ones being in the ghetto.
unF*****believably county commissioner. who greased there palm. who vote to approved vote them out of office bunch of pricks
Poor Jim Rhodes, he's gone totally blind. The man can't even see that the valley is real estate trouble. I mean ,c'mon Stevie Wonder can see the problem here. Not only has Mr. rhodes gone blind but he went just plain stupid.
As a life-long Las Vegan, I have seen a lot of ups and downs, a lot of corruption in the city council meetings, a lot of greased palms. Unfortunately, the council members are blinded by quick cash and often have not thought of the citizens...I remember when the people in the Northwest part of the valley who were zoned for large 1 acre parcels were abutted by 7 to an acre junk homes. The people came to protest, and the drug stores, the grocery stores went right in...who cares about quality of life? it is time to fight and save
Blue Diamond, and the surrounding Red Rock area.
(AGAIN). If I were a politician I would watch my step...we are eying all of you, and will not forget. Oh, and if you want to help Susan Brager decide "which way she will go" give her a call:
455-3500 or drop a friendly, encouraging email:
www.accessclarkcounty.com
sbrager@co.clark.nv.us
Remember, your voice needs to be heard, from your mouth to their ears...and eyes!!!
Red Rock is unique and beautiful. It is like no other place in the world.
We are so lucky to have this treasure.
It would be a disaster to build thousands of homes near by. The volume of traffic and pollution would destroy this natural wonder. There are thousands of miles of open desert that can accommodate new homes.
Let us preserve Red Rock for ourselves and our children.
Last thing we need are more densely packed stucco boxes.