Negotiations for Badlands deal could soon be sent to Las Vegas City Council

The Las Vegas Planning Commission will consider next week a new comprehensive development for the Badlands, which has stirred controversy in the interwoven Queensridge development for well over a year.

A non-gaming, 130-room boutique hotel and more than 1,600 multifamily units would be set on roughly 50 acres, east of the Alta Drive and Rampart Boulevard intersection, where the City Council previously approved a plan to build 435 for-sale condos.

To the west, 65 single-family homes would sprawl across estate lots on 184 acres that weave through the Queensridge development. The proposal adds buffer zones to the existing homes that are most affected by the development proposal.

In a letter to city Planning Director Tom Perrigo dated May 22, developer Yohan Lowie contended the plan will revitalize the area and is “the best plan for the adjacent homeowners, the neighborhood at large and the city of Las Vegas.”

A statement on Tuesday from developer EHB Cos., which Lowie helms, said the group has been working directly with stakeholders within Queensridge and the city to reach the new development agreement.

“They have all provided valuable insight and the overall tenor in the discussions has been extremely positive and cooperative in nature,” the EHB statement said.

A number of Queensridge residents have fiercely opposed development there. Shauna Hughes, attorney for the Queensridge Homeowners Association, said Tuesday she and the residents are reviewing the plan.

“Because changes are continuing to come, we’re trying to get our arms around it,” Hughes said.

Planning Commission and City Council meetings on past versions of the development proposal have lasted hours into the night.

Hughes characterized the talks leading to the new development agreement as “intense.”

The commission convenes Tuesday night, just as votes are counted in the Ward 2 City Council race between Councilman Bob Beers and Steve Seroka, where the Badlands issue has loomed large.

The total number of homes, condos and apartments planned for the 250-acre course tops out at more than 2,100, down from 3,080 in the initial proposal the Planning Commission and City Council considered last year.

The issue has sparked lawsuits and prompted the creation of political action committees that have pumped thousands of dollars into both sides of the City Council race.

The new development agreement will likely be slated for the June 21 City Council agenda, the final meeting before a new council is seated. Ward 6 Councilman Steve Ross is term-limited and will be leaving the council, while Beers is facing a challenge in his bid for re-election. In February, Beers and Ross voted in favor of the Rampart and Alta condo proposal, which passed 4-3.

One of the main concerns voiced by both city officials and residents has been “piecemeal” development, and Mayor Carolyn Goodman urged the developers to come back with a comprehensive plan.

The Planning Commission shot down a proposal last year to develop much of the former golf course, but it recommended development for the corner of Alta and Rampart, already home to the luxury Queensridge towers.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.