Our response to the July 3, 2024 Clark County Commission Zoning Meeting
When Gypsum Resources purchased 2,400 acres of land on Blue Diamond Hill in March 2003, that land was zoned “Rural”. We all know that this precious plot sits adjacent to the nation’s very first National Conservation Area, and the jewel of Southern Nevada, Red Rock Canyon. For the past 20 years, Save Red Rock has joined the general public and elected officials in imploring the developer to comply with the existing law and simply build what he bought. In that world, we’d have a sustainable amount of new housing, and manage to preserve the safety, serenity and sensitivity of the Public Lands that people, plants and animals rely on.
Over the course of two decades, whenever lawmakers or community stakeholders tried to uphold the Rural zoning restrictions, the developer responded with aggressive litigation, strong-arming his way into obtaining waivers and special conditions. Today marks another one of those moments.
Save Red Rock is committed to preserving the sanctity of Public Lands, and of holding development to rural standards that take into account the environmental sensitivity of this space. We are heartbroken to witness this stage of the process, where the county has been backed into a corner, under the pressures of corporate greed, and is seemingly willing to change Land Zoning and Land Use for the benefit of one company, but at at the expense of millions of visitors and over 53,000 citizens who signed a petition to “Keep Red Rock Rural.”
We understand how the world works, but we will continue to show up and comment on record, and work towards the enforcement of the rural zoning or environmental protections whenever possible.
