Nevada Legislature revisits law affecting development near Red Rock Canyon

The Nevada Legislature will once again debate a law that would halt plans to build thousands of homes near Red Rock Canyon.

Assembly Bill 277 would freeze zoning changes on lands inside Nevada’s national conservation and national recreation areas. It would do the same for lands within a 5-mile radius of national conservation areas.

Lawmakers passed a similar law in 2003, but developer Jim Rhodes sued and the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the law in January 2013.

The court ruled that the law violated a provision of the Nevada Constitution that prohibits the Legislature from passing local laws that regulate county business because it specifically targeted Clark County, and the Red Rock area in particular.

AB277 sponsor Assemblyman Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, said the new proposal would not suffer the same fate because it affects the entire state.

“I think the way we drafted this piece of legislation would make it withstand any court challenge or constitutional challenge,” Yeager said. “This bill gets us around the problem in 2003, which is you can’t just target one parcel of land.”

ZONING FIGHT

Rhodes had been seeking a zoning change on land near Red Rock to build a multi-thousand home community. Nevada paid him $920,000 in a settlement.

Like the 2003 bill, AB277 would derail plans by Rhodes and mining company Gypsum Resources to build a 5,000-home community on Blue Diamond Hill, which abuts the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The land’s zoning prevents more than about 1,200 homes from being built on some 2,000 acres that is a historic gypsum mine.

The zoning freeze also would apply to land in and around Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Black Rock-High Rock National Conservation Area, Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.

REACTION

Heather Fisher, president of environmental nonprofit Save Red Rock, called the bill a blessing.

“It is written in a sensitive way to protect existing neighborhoods and homebuilders, and to preserve our state’s most beautiful natural attractions at the same time,” she wrote in a statement. “Since this bill doesn’t take away any property rights, it’s a solid, fair and well-written piece of legislation that should be able to stand for future generations to come.”

Ron Krater, project spokesman for Gypsum Resources, disagreed.

“If it did affect all lands within a 5-mile radius of the NCAS within the state of Nevada … it would be taking of private property rights for tens of thousands of land owners,” he said. “On face value it seems very similar to the original legislation that was passed some years back that was found to be unconstitutional.”

AB277 is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Government Affairs Committee at 8 a.m. on Friday. Both Save Red Rock and Gypsum Resources plan to have representatives present.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.