Hundreds expected to protest proposed Blue Diamond Hill project

Expect to see a sea of red T-shirts at Wednesday’s Clark County Zoning Commission meeting.

Heather Fisher, president of the environmental nonprofit Save Red Rock, expects hundreds of people to wear the color as a sign of protest against proposed development on Blue Diamond Hill, which lies next to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Fisher said the nonprofit has put up 13 billboard advertisements across the Las Vegas Valley to alert people to the impending vote.

“We want everyone to hear about it,” she said.

Save Red Rock wants the commissioners to reject mining company Gypsum Resources’ request to rezone about 2,000 acres of hilltop property so it can build 5,025 homes.

Project spokesman Ron Krater has said the development will not have a major impact on the local environment, but Save Red Rock has decried it as detrimental to the local ecosystem and the area’s rural character.

Save Red Rock attorney Justin Jones previously has argued the concept plan breaks with both the county’s master plan and Title 30 of the county code, which outlines the major projects process.

After the county’s Planning Commission unanimously voted against recommending the concept plan in October, the county took the issue to court to determine whether the arguments Save Red Rock made against the proposed development in 2011 — when commissioners approved a similar plan — could be used as the basis for a different decision by the commission. A ruling has not been made.

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