Developer Rhodes withdraws plan to use Red Rock Canyon scenic route

Opponents of Jim Rhodes' proposed 4,700-home hilltop development near Blue Diamond are celebrating a small victory in their battle to preserve Red Rock.

After much public scrutiny that drew the attention of the rock band The Killers, the developer withdrew his request from the county to use state Route 159, the scenic route that runs through Red Rock Canyon, including the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, during construction. The Clark County Commission, sitting as the zoning board, had been scheduled to hear the request Wednesday.

Rhodes plans to develop 2,000 acres and wanted to use the scenic route during the initial phase of construction to build the project's access road and for safety and emergency purposes. The project includes developing homes, a business park and retail areas, among other amenities, on the former gypsum mining site.

Red Rock supporters don't want the project built at all because they think it would ruin the pristine high-desert valley. Rhodes wants a higher density of homes per acre, which would make him more money.

Rhodes' attorney, Chris Kaempfer, said his client is not backing down from the proposed mountaintop development.

To move forward with the project, Rhodes needs the Bureau of Land Management to determine where the project's access road will be located from Route 160, the main highway between Las Vegas and Pahrump.

"We should have thought about that earlier," Kaempfer said. "It was premature to discuss how a road should best be constructed until it was determined where that road would be."

Rhodes wanted the county to waive that condition requiring BLM approval for the main access road ultimately built from Route 160 before the county would approve the specific plan that finalizes the land use plan and identifies issues with the project. County staff disagreed with the request because it hasn't been determined whether the road would be public or private.

Rhodes wanted the county to file the BLM application. The County Commission said right-of-way access across BLM land is Rhodes' responsibility. Once the application is filed, it could take between 18 months and three years for BLM and associated agencies to decide whether the new road is public or private, according to county staff.

The request has not been sent to BLM, Kaempfer added.

Heather Fisher, director of Save Red Rock, which is protesting the project, said she thinks Rhodes didn't have the votes from county commissioners he wanted and pulled the plug.

"Now he has to go through the process just like any other developer," Fisher said. "That's what we want. We don't want to take any property rights away from him. We don't want him to have special rights more than anybody else."

Kaempfer has said the developer needs the access from Route 159 to build the road from the hilltop down to Route 160. That would use the material graded from lots at the top of the hill to build the access road.

It would be more expensive to build the road up the hill from Route 160 because the developer would have to haul in material for the road and get rid of the excess material from the top of the hill, causing more construction traffic, Kaempfer said.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jones said Rhodes could use Route 159 during the early phase of construction.

County attorneys have advised the commission that it can't reject the project because of location, or the judge might step in and make zoning decisions.

Kaempfer said his client won't enforce the court order, yet.

"This isn't moving forward on merit and popularity and sustainability," Fisher said. "It's moving forward on threats of lawsuits. That's what's moving it forward, not the acceptance of the community. We know he'll be back. This isn't the end. This is one battle in a big war to have him comply with rules that others have to comply with."

Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.