Nor'Town: Politics in North Las Vegas » Sheep Mountain Parkway

Thank the Recession for Upper Las Vegas Wash National Monument

Nevada Scandalmonger — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:08:27 +0000

The Las Vegas Sun apparently found a staffer still on the payroll to pen a piece about the BLM’s generally favorable position on the proposed Upper Las Vegas Wash national monument. (Sun)

One thing that strikes me about the article is how all the cooperation between all the various government agencies would not have happened if the development bubble had not burst.

If Park Highlands were half-finished right now and Boyd Gaming was building the casino next to it, and developers were, like Alexander, looking for more worlds to conquer, just how willing would everyone had been to make all that land into an untouchable monument? Somebody was pushing for that Sheepdip Parkway, too, which would have plowed right through the fossils just a few years ago, and they had the County on board.

So, even the nasty dark clouds of the Great Recession have a silver lining or two.

Fun fact: the domain www.sheepmountainparkway.com is owned by mega-developer Parsons Brinkerhoff. Funny that the copyright of the site is held by the City of Las Vegas, ain’t it?

Hey, they might sell that domain to ya cheap these days.

There will be a meeting of folk interested in the monument later this month:

Where: Aliante Community Center (the left building as you walk up) 7390 Aliante Parkway, just north of Aliante Station Casino.

When: Wednesday February 17th, from 6-8pm

Speakers:

Gayle Marrs-Smith of the BLM will explain the preferred alternatives and public meeting process
Kathleen Springer from the San Bernardino Museum will have specific info about the traininig classes for the site steward program
Lynn Davis of the National Parks Conservation Assc. will talk about our role as we move toward National Monument status
? special guest still to be firmed up by next week.

My, How Things Change

Nevada Scandalmonger — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:23:08 +0000

Nothing shifts faster than a political wind.

The Las Vegas Sun had a fair chunk of its Sunday offering filled up with the prospect that grounds filled with fossils in northern Nor'Town may be protected as a national monument under the National Park Service.

One might wonder why Greenspun, Inc., would be so excited. After all, if you have a gander at the proposed map, the proposed park would severely cut into the usual casino/tenement construction/home-building carpet-bombing that seems to be at the heart of the company's plans for the city.

But then, the map tells another story, too, since the Greenspun/Aliante Station casino and hotel would be at the front door of a national monument. The joint would be nicely poised to rent rooms and bingo cards to Ice Age groupies.

Some of the latter-day converts to the plan were a bit surprising.The Nor'Townie mayor seemed unperturbed by the possible loss of casino/tenement land. All the more surprising given just as recently as a week or so ago she was trying to shove that half-baked plan for a tenement city around the "island" at Lake Mead near I-15 down the throats of her fellow councilfolk. They, however, ignored the siren call of the lawyer-lobbyist for the developer and decided to put out an open request for proposals for the area. (Sun)

The mayor, too, is spearheading the movement to build a pipeline from the central counties in a effort to turn Utah into a dustbowl so the valley can grow and grow and grow with rhyme or reason.

Maybe she didn't like her stint at BYU? Left some enemies back in Utah?

And, say, anybody wonder about having a shooting park right smack in the middle of the monument? Isn't that where the Clark County Shooting Park will be? With all that left over lead leeching into the wash?

Oh, well, all such concerns will be labeled sour grapes by the publisher-developer-industrial complex running the city. Nonetheless, kudos to the Tule Springs Protectorate for their success and Godspeed to the memorial.

Let's just hope they don't end up calling Sheepdip Drive "Memorial Parkway" and blast it right through the park.

And, gee, do you think a McCain administration would have been as supportive?

Nor’Town Cowboy Hat Fetishist Sludgecakes

Nevada Scandalmonger — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:44:46 +0000

Others have talking points, quick hits, or gleanettes. Nor'Towners are stuck with Sludge Cakes!

A reader spotted the following note over on the Nevada State Democratic Party site from which we learn that Nor'Town Councilguy Robert Eliason and Clark County Commissioner and cowboy hat fetishist Tom Collins are supporting William Robinson's run for Mayor. Hmm. Given Mr. Collins' support, should we conclude that Mr. Robinson is a full scale supporter of the Clark County Shooting Park and will fail to take any stand on the Sheepdip Highway to Nowhere, like Mr. Collins?
A suggestion for the next North Las Vegas city slogan: Ah, Nor'Town! The place to go for all your organized crime needs! (Sun) Or, perhaps: Can't fence that copper you stole? Try Nor'Town! Filling fencing needs for over sixty years!
Sounds like the BLM is dragging its feet on the Environmental Impact Study 13,000 acre decision viz. the Sheepdip Highway to Nowhere, so the Tule Springs folk have canceled their powwow on the subject for the time being. However, there will be a candidate meet and grill at the Aliante Sun City Club House, 7394 Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas, NV, Tuesday, Mar. 10, at 6pm, when you can ask the mayoral wannabes all about it.
There's a meeting on Kiel Ranch on the same night, Tuesday, March 10, at 5:45pm at the NLV Library, 2300 Civic Center Drive, North Las Vegas. You can see various plans for the scene of Nor'Town's first murder over here.

Mammoths Bring Out Big Gun

Nevada Scandalmonger — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:13:53 +0000

Advocates for turning the Northern Valley into something beside a parking lot surrounded by foreclosed houses discovered the proverbial 300 pound gorilla–or should I say: six ton mammoth riding an F-22–on their side of the debate Friday.

Representatives from Nellis Airforce Base were concerned that large scale development in the northern valley could interfere with the many training exercises flying over the area north of Las Vegas.

According to Col. Dave Belote, commander of the 99th Air Base Wing:

"If there would be too much development to fly over, the reason for Nellis would be almost gone," Belote said.

What's more, he said, it would cost the Air Force billions of
dollars to re-create the mock terrorist training camps, airfields and
other targets on the 2.9-million-acre Nellis Air Force Range to the
north, which is vital for training the nation's fighter pilots using
live and heavy munitions.

As it stands, about half of the 40,000 training sorties out of
Nellis fly directly over the so-called Conservation Transfer Area. Such
flights over residential and business developments would pose a safety
hazard. (RJ)

That stuff about a safety hazard is no joke. An A-10 scored a kill on a pick-up truck driving near the base last month when a piece of a bomb fell off the jet. (F-16.net)

Score a big PR point for friends of the Ice Age Park and friends of the bear-claw poppy. They can now claim that if you support heavy development in the north and the Sheep Mountain Parkway, then, well, the terrorists win.

The City of North Las Vegas is beholding to the base in many ways, too, not the least of which is that they're trying to build their shiny new water waste treatment plant on Nellis land. So it will be interesting to see how our city fathers and mothers jump on the issue now.

But probably more important will be the reaction of the newbie Nevada Senate majority leader, Steven Horsford, since the decision to build the parkway will come from folks way above council's pay grade. Can he be persuaded to kill the parkways and support more conservation by a mammoth on an F-22?

Who’s in Favor of the Sheepdip Parkway?

Nevada Scandalmonger — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:24:53 +0000

There are a myriad of Nor'Town issues that are getting ignored during this election season, especially by incumbents who are relying on the unfortunate, but tried and true, method of building huge campaign treasuries and sending out mountains of pleasant, if uninformative campaign mailers with pictures of kids and dogs on them.

However, the proposed Sheep Mountain Parkway is an important issue during this election cycle, because the folks who will ultimately be making decisions about it sit in the U.S. Congress, the Clark County Commission, and the State Legislature.

Nor'Town will be having its little municipal election early next year, believe it or not, and although the issue might be a part of the back and forth of that election, the city council will, I suspect, have the least influence of all the other government entities that I've mentioned. Even if a mayor who was vehemently opposed to the parkway were elected, she or he probably won't make much of a difference.

And, unfortunately again, most incumbents try to avoid actually dealing with issues because issues distract from nice pictures of kids and dogs and endorsements by the special interests that fund their incumbency.

There are a few Nor'Town candidates, however, who are either opposed to the parkway, or at least willing to consider alternatives before pouring concrete over the environmentally and archaeological sensitive areas up there.

Gary Hosea, a Republican running for the Clark County Commission has stated to me in a recent e-mail that "It [the parkway] is in my district and it is not going to be built!!!."

His opponent, Mr. Clancy Tom Collins, has simply waffled on the issue.

Linda West Myers, a Republican running for Assembly District 1, has suggested she would prefer to see the Bruce Woodbury beltway completed before considering building yet another beltway.

Andrew Martin, a Democrat running for Assembly District 13, is against the parkway because it would be built on top of the fossils in Tule Springs. Mr. Martin is the only candidate I know of who has made the protection of Tule Springs a part of his platform. His opponent, Chad Christensen, judging from his campaign materials, has never heard of the parkway.

State Senator Steven Horsford claims he's willing to consider "alternatives" in transportation, at least that's what he seems to have said in an earlier post. However, sometimes Mr. Horsford's sweet talk makes it's difficult to tell if he's talking about an issue, or simply espousing his support for puppies and small children.

Where do the rest stand on the issue? Who knows? The big loser in this election is Nor'Town, and it will remain a loser unless it learns how to inject it's agenda into regional politics.

More info: Tule Springs Ice Age Park.

Meeting on Tule Springs and Sheepdip Parkway to Nowhere

Nevada Scandalmonger — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:44:41 +0000

There will be a meeting of the Protectors of Tule Springs on Weds., Oct. 10th 15th.

WHAT: Protectors of Tule Springs Meeting
WHERE: Conference Room in the Sun City Aliante Community Center at 7390 Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas, NV
WHEN: Wednesday, October 10th 15th, 6:30pm

Seating is limited. Please RSVP to protectorsoftulesprings@gmail.com.

Agenda:

1. Maps of the BLM land in question and the resources they are trying to save.

2. Maps of the impact of the proposed Sheep Mountain Parkway to this BLM land.

3. What has happened the last 18 months Protectors of Tule Springs has been a group

4. What the draft decision might mean to our efforts.

Back in July, Jill DeStefano, the prez of the Protectors, went to some meetings on the Sheepdip Parkway to Nowhere, and noted the following:

Some interesting items found out:

1. The 215 is scheduled to be completed as a 2 lane in each direction highway by 2013. However it is designed with the right of ways to be FOUR lanes in each direction.

2. The Cities are basing all of this
NEED on the fact that Apex will have 40,000 jobs in 30 years and UNLV
will be open and of course, everyone working for these places will be
coming from the Western part of town. I guess they won't allow people
who work in Henderson and Eastern LV to work there. The fact that a
four lane highway with an HOV lane might handle it doesn't seem to
cross any of their minds.

3. Yesterday's RJ had the article in
it about the RTC now implementing "express" bus routes for people up
here to get quickly to the resort corridor without a million bus stops
and using the HOV lanes. Of course, with gas prices, this is a
tremendous idea. But, no one in the meeting seemed to want to grasp
that maybe 30 years from now, when needed, the RTC might be able to do
the same thing to APEX and/or UNLV using HOV lanes on the 215!!!!!.
Their own facts show that in the next few years (10 or so) that there
will be 120,000 new jobs on the Strip resort corridor. Hmmmmmmmmm,
maybe we should be spending our money worrying about that and do the
North 5th street bit with Park n rides along that for the RTC. I think
that is a North/South direction.

One can only wonder why Clark bothered to build the 215.

And it looks like Harry Reid's working on money for that UNLV extension over in Casino Alley and the weapons range. (RJ)

APEX/KAPEX/TAMPEX/WHATEVER is already sucking up your tax dollars.

Sheepdip Parkway Meetings Coming Up

Nevada Scandalmonger — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:43:17 +0000

This week there will be two meetings on the Sheep Mountain Parkway, one on Wednesday and the other Thursday, both start at 5pm where Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) personnel will burn through what’s left of the state budget using up overtime to show you all the neat graphics they spent money on, then at 5:30pm there will be NDOT people showing you the cool powerpoint presentation they spent what’s left of the state budget on, after that there will be some working groups wherein NDOT personnel will use up what’s left of the state budget trying to get you to buy into a huge freeway that you don’t want but that the casino and the real estate developers and the local paving companies really, really do.

The July 9th meeting will focus on the “vision” or lack thereof behind the project, and the July 10th will assume that the parkway is a foregone conclusion, and that your input is a waste of time, and concentrate on “alignment routes and corridor design issues,” which only matter, notice, if you’ve made up your mind to build the thing.

Nonetheless, a good turnout from local naysayers–as well as contacting your local city and county commissioners who are up for election this year might turn a few heads.

Note, too, that NDOT has been playing musical chairs by changing meeting times and the location. The meetings are now scheduled for here:

Sheepdip Parkway Meetings
July 9th and 10th
5 – 7 pm
Mountain Crest Neighborhood Services Center
4701 N. Durango Dr.
LV NV 89129 (map)

They seem to keep moving those meetings farther and farther away from us cantankerous Nor’Towners, don’t they?

And you know who you won’t see at the meeting? Folks like Bob Beers or Shelley Berkley or Tom Collins showing up to show some support to their constituents who don’t want the Sheepdip express. They are all welcome to prove me wrong, of course, and their challengers might want to show up and shake the hands of some sympathetic voters….

And don’t forget the immortal words of Las Vegas Councilman and Sheepdip Highway apologist Steve Ross, who needs to look for a new job:

Councilman Steve Ross, whose district includes the proposed freeway,
said the highway has been considered for years for the simple reason
that the city’s growth will one day demand it.

“Keep in mind, there was great opposition to the current … beltway
around the valley,” Ross said. “I remember all the naysayers who said
nobody would use it. Now look at it. Likewise with the Sheep Mountain
Parkway. Not that we have the money to build it today or in 10 years,
but we need that to be set aside for when the time comes.” (Sun)

Also this week: the North Las Vegas Allaince of Homeowner Associations and Concerned Folk will be meeting Tuesday:

DATE: TUESDAY JULY 8th

PLACE: ALIANTE LIBRARY—2400 DEER SPRINGS WAY. TEL. 839-2980

TIME: 6:00 P.M.

Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly will be there. You can ask him if he has spent all of the discretionary fund money yet for this year. (Sun)

Still Looking for Positive Comments…

Nevada Scandalmonger — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:40:34 +0000

Now I know how many NDoT employees it takes to run an outreach meeting.

It takes lots and lots.

In fact, I hadn't settled in to enjoy the expensive and colorful posters that decorated the room up at Aliante Library at that Sheep Mountain Parkway meeting before I was pounced upon by a fellow in khaki pants and dress shirt who wanted me to know that the Parkway, with its mass transit and hiking trails, would be lined with gold and be neater than Aladdin's magic carpet.

Oh, okay. I made up some of that. But only some.

We were told that the parkway was needed because the Las Vegas Valley was growing so fast, we just need it, by golly. We were then shown scary pictures of the population growth in the valley that looked like HIV on crack in a petri dish.

Note that we were all just supposed to go along with the premise of the presentation: that growth is unstoppable and that it must take a certain form. That form being acres of houses with a casino or two stuck in to break the monotony.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, a bit outside her own district, showed up and wondered if it wasn't just a little early to be doing studies for a parkway, especially since environmental impact studies were under way for the Shooting Park and the Ice Age Park, the outcomes of which could render the parkway project null and void. She also wondered why NDoT, or whoever is really behind the push for the parkway, was so intent on providing nifty mass transit up where there are any houses yet when her district down in Las Vegas which has lots of people NOW can't get a bus.

I didn't see any County Commissioners from the districts through which the Parkway would actually run, nor any Nor'Town councilfolk, but I was only there for the 5:30 presentation. They may have crept in at some other time.

After a bunch of other comments, all against the project, the meeting closed, with Bob Borgersen asking the moderator if she didn't want to wait for some positive comments.

She smiled rather painfully in response, it seemed to me.

You can comment on the parkway, too, just follow this link.

Ooo. Here's Stan Nudlemann's vid of a trek to the mammoth bones.

Can you see me?

Reminder: Sheep Mountain Parkway Meeting Tomorrow

Nevada Scandalmonger — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:01:51 +0000

If this sounds familiar, it should cuz I’ve posted pretty much the same thing before.

But it never hurts to remind everyone again.

Won’t it be fun heading to that meeting in the heat?

There will be a hearing on the Sheep Mountain Parkway this Tuesday, May 20.

It lasts from 4pm to 7pm at the Aliante Library, but you don’t have
to be there the whole time. All you have to do is have a look at the
stupid plan to plow over poppies and priceless fossils
so that developers can throw up some cheap apartments and give
Centennial Hills folks access to Casino Alley and the Shooting Park,
and then sign a paper saying how stupid you think it is and that any
politician who even thinks about supporting it will be voted out by a
landslide. And then you can go home. 10 minutes tops.

So, write this down:

WHAT: Sheep Mountain Parkway Meeting
WHEN: Tuesday May 20, 4pm to 7pm.
WHERE: Aliante Library, 2400 Deer Springs Way, North Las Vegas, NV

There’s one the week after, too, over in ~~Beer’s~~ Copening country:

WHAT: Sheep Mountain Parkway Meeting
WHEN: Thursday, May 29, 4pm to 7pm
WHERE: YMCA/Centennial Hills Community Center, 6601 North Buffalo, Las Vegas, NV

[UPDATE: new pic showing the parkway blasting through Red Rock Canyon and taking up most of the proposed UNLV campus. And going right through the middle of Nellis.

Click on the pic for a closer view.

Source: www.sheepmountainparkway.com.

Contact:

Congressman Shelley Berkley
Senator Harry Reid
Senator John Ensign and tell them you don't want it.]

Parkway Hearing Coming Up Tuesday!

Nevada Scandalmonger — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:00:00 +0000

There will be a hearing on the Sheep Mountain Parkway this Tuesday, May 20.

So, write this down:

WHAT: Sheep Mountain Parkway Meeting
WHEN: Tuesday May 20, 4pm to 7pm.
WHERE: Aliante Library, 2400 Deer Springs Way, North Las Vegas, NV

There’s one the week after, too, over in ~~Beer’s~~ Copening country:

WHAT: Sheep Mountain Parkway Meeting
WHEN: Thursday, May 29, 4pm to 7pm
WHERE: YMCA/Centennial Hills Community Center, ~~601~~ 6601 North Buffalo, Las Vegas, NV

[UPDATE: Note the correction of the address for the Thursday meeting.]