Save Red Rock scores win in Clark County court

An attorney for a company that wants to build thousands of homes on Blue Diamond Hill said opposition to the project is forcing his client to spend “a lot of time and money” in court to address legal claims that will eventually be dismissed.

“I get they’re trying to find any way they can to interfere with this (development plan), but at some point there needs to be some sort of legal premise to move (the claims) forward,” Gypsum Resources attorney Mark Ferrario said during the hearing Tuesday. “There is no legal premise.”

Still, Clark County District Court Judge Jerry Wiese ruled environmental nonprofit Save Red Rock can pursue multiple legal avenues to oppose the master planned community from breaking ground near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

“We’re very pleased,” Save Red Rock attorney Justin Jones said. “The idea here from day one is to protect Red Rock from sprawl development.”

Wiese ruled he will hear further evidence of Save Red Rock’s claim that the Clark County Commission violated open meeting laws during a February zoning meeting.

During that meeting, commissioners allowed Gypsum Resources to withdraw a new concept plan to build on Blue Diamond Hill with the understanding that a similar plan approved in 2011 had never expired.

Wiese also ruled that Save Red Rock can pursue its claim that Gypsum Resource’s 2011 plan did expire and another claim that a stipulation of the 2011 plan’s approval forbids Gypsum Resources from using State Road 159.

The lawsuit, initially filed by Clark County, has been ongoing since December. Save Red Rock has filed multiple counterclaims, keeping the lawsuit alive when the county and Gypsum Resources want it dismissed.

Wiese also dismissed four other claims, most which focused on the new concept plan Gypsum Resources withdrew in February.

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