Last Wednesday, the Clark County Zoning Commission gave the green light to a highly contentious housing development planned near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, according to KTNV. The commission approved a development agreement for a 3,500-home community on Blue Diamond Hill, a proposal mired in two decades of legal battles and public opposition. Despite unanimous support from the commission with a vote of 6-0, one member, commissioner Justin Jones, abstained from the decision.
The backdrop of this development is not without its complexities, a recent chapter includes an $86 million settlement approved by Clark County Commissioners favoring developer Jim Rhodes, who had his original 5,000 home plan stonewalled by the commission. As reported by FOX5 Vegas, Rhodes’s legal team contended Commissioner Jones not only campaigned against the project but also wiped pertinent text messages post-vote. The legal entanglements have led to a Nevada Bar investigation into Jones, who has past legal connections to the conservation group Save Red Rock, which has opposed the housing project.
Ongoing litigation and pushback from conservationists have not deterred the drive to develop in the area adjacent to Red Rock Canyon, a site revered for its striking geologic features and vistas. Critics of the project have long voiced concerns that the new development would significantly derogate the aesthetic and ecological integrity of the adjoining natural landscapes—an argument that has resonated with environmental advocates and a segment of the local community.
It is noteworthy, that commissioner Jones, whose involvement with the Save Red Rock group has cast a shadow over his abstention in the recent development and settlement votes, remains under scrutiny amidst the burgeoning Nevada Bar examination. The hefty settlement of $86 million, initially reported by FOX5 Vegas, came after Rhodes’s attorneys sought a $2 billion figure, marking a significant but troubled milestone in the project’s complex history.
