Planning commission votes in favor of proposal to put subdivision on closed Badlands golf course

The Las Vegas Planning Commission voted 4-2 Tuesday in favor of a proposal to put a 61-lot subdivision on part of the closed Badlands golf course.

The proposal will be heard by the City Council in March. Developer EHB Cos. wants to put single-family homes on 61 lots across 34 acres on the shuttered course at the corner of Hualapai Way and Alta Drive.

A twist of fate and city planning coincidence landed the developers proposing residences on the golf course and the plans’ staunch opponents in City Council chambers together for hours on Valentine’s Day.

Despite the holiday, a spirit of compromise was decidedly absent. The two sides continue to clash over the development proposal, as they have for more than a year in neighborhood meetings, at City Hall and in court.

Commissioner Vicki Quinn said a lack of detail around some elements of the plans bothers her “immensely.” She and Planning Commissioner Cedric Crear cast the votes against the development.

“I have no idea what the hell I’m even voting on and what it’s going to look like,” Quinn said.

Attorney Stephanie Allen, representing EHB Cos., said the proposed subdivision would be gated with access to Hualapai Way and a street network separate from the existing Queensridge neighborhood street network. One side of each street would have sidewalks, and building heights of the single-family custom homes wouldn’t surpass 46 feet, Allen said.

Opponents said they spent Monday night in a neighborhood meeting on the 61-lot proposal with the development team.

Elaine Wenger-Roesener, a board member for the Queensridge homeowners’ association, asked the commission to give homeowners more time to understand the proposals.

Multiple opponents implored the commission to demand the developers present a “comprehensive application” for developing the golf course, although there was a strong wall of opposition before the commission last year when development plans for the whole course were presented.

About 20 opponents spoke during a public hearing Tuesday night, including City Council candidates Steve Seroka and Christina Roush.. Seroka and Roush are challenging Ward 2 incumbent Bob Beers, who represents the area of the city encompassing Queensridge and the Badlands golf course.

“I do understand looking out on the golf course and always wanting to look out on that golf course,” Planning Commission Chairman Trinity Schlottman said, but added the commission’s job is to decide whether the plans fit with the surrounding area.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman in November asked the Shauna Hughes, the attorney for the Queensridge homeowners’ association and Frank Pankratz, of EHB Cos., to meet and try to reach a compromise on developing the course.

Hughes said Tuesday she and Pankratz met five times and “unfortunately no progress was made.” She asked the commission to affirm the council’s direction to negotiate in good faith.

“This piecemeal approach is what the homeowners have vehemently objected to,” Hughes said.

The City Council is slated Wednesday to again address a separate application for a 720-unit multifamily development on another part of the course, at Alta and Rampart Boulevard.

The Planning Commission recommended approval of the 720 units in October, but it was part of a larger application to develop the 250-acre course. The commission rejected everything but those 720 units. The developers then withdrew the portion of the proposed development the commission denied, and later submitted the proposal for the 61 lots.