MARK WAITE / PVT Dan Clark, an architect with IBI Group, shows interested residents a map of the proposed layout of the destination spa resort at Willow Creek Golf Course during a congenial neighborhood meeting last Friday. MARK WAITE / PVT Don Luttrell reads a letter in opposition to the proposed hotel and casino destination resort at Willow Creek Golf Course while others wait to speak. Advertisement

Developers of a hotel and casino resort at Willow Creek Golf Course wound up in the rough Wednesday, when several neighbors objected it would be inappropriate in a residential neighborhood.

Nye County Commissioner Butch Borasky requested the item be continued until next month not due to the residents' complaints, but over concerns about whether Utilities Inc. would continue to discharge treated effluent onto the golf course.

James Veltman, land planner for IBI Group, said there would be other checks on the project, like a conditional use permit needed from the county commission and a site development plan review.

"What we're trying to do is get the land use to agree to the deed restrictions on our property," Veltman said. "The deed restrictions for the clubhouse property is we're allowed to do a hotel-motel, clubhouse, spa and other incidental uses to playing golf. Our goal is to bring to Pahrump a destination spa resort."

The zoning map approved last June designated Willow Creek Golf Course as part of the golf course/parks/open space zone. IBI Group wants to rezone 9.1 acres around the clubhouse as general commercial.

The Nye County Planning Department said that could constitute spot zoning but added the resort would appear to be an appropriate use for the area.

The Pahrump Regional Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval but added a condition that the deed restriction requiring Willow Creek to remain a golf course be extended another 30 years from the 2013 expiration date.

Veltman told Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos the company has plans to build sidewalks and a buffer between sidewalks and the parking lot to deal with school children walking in the neighborhood. Both J.G. Johnson Elementary School and Pahrump Valley High School are in the vicinity.

Donald Luttrell, 501 E. Bellville St., said IBI Group told the RPC it is paying off debt by the previous owners who ran the golf course into the ground.

But Luttrell added the state Secretary of State's office has no record of the company, and their address is the same as that of the previous owners, Willow Creek Holdings.

Veltman said he's been an architect since 1989 and has designed numerous projects in the Pahrump area. IBI Group has done business in the state of Nevada for some time, he added.

"I built my house next to a golf course because of love of the game. I didn't build it next to a casino," Luttrell said. "I don't know how this got this far."

Neighbor Belinda King said seven new homes were built in the last four years near the clubhouse.

"We have always been aware that behind us will be a maximum of two-story four-plexes or a five-plex," she said.

King said older schoolchildren already drive fast around the tight curve on Red Butte Drive.

"It is a street that is a danger already. There are many, many schoolchildren already. I can sit outside my house and see the children coming by," King said. She added, "The area is basically residential. It looks to be residential if you would drive that area and seriously look at it."

Joe McKendrick, 1441 Star Road, said, "It's commercial going into a residential area. At the last RPC meeting other projects were shot down by spot zoning, yet this one was approved unanimously. This is a definite case of spot zoning. While the deed restrictions do allow them to build a hotel, a casino is not in the deed restriction."

But Richard Cantino, who said he wasn't affiliated with the golf course developers, vouched for the project.

"I am a property owner and I live on the golf course. I watched the golf course struggle for years. If the owners are not allowed to go forward with this project we will probably lose the golf course," he said.

But Art Boynton, 1451 Star Road countered, "they're not in competition with a casino they're in competition with Mountain Falls. They don't have a casino. I think if they improve the golf to meet the standards of Mountain Falls that they will be successful."

Kay Hendricks, a resident living on Lake View Executive Golf Course, said a casino and hotel might be appropriate if the neighborhood wasn't originally residential.

"These are the same people who are interested in buying Lake View golf course. So what can we expect there?" Hendricks asked.

Don McDermott, a Star Drive resident, said he hasn't seen anything in the plans about controlling traffic or improving the roads.

"Red Butte is a disaster waiting to happen," he said. "I don't think the traffic can be handled the way it is now."

Veltman said they are planning a destination resort spa, not a casino.

"The casino on this project is very small. It's a small, added amenity to the hotel/clubhouse. The third point is the clubhouse currently has a liquor license," he said.

Borasky said the health, safety and welfare of a lot of residents in his district could be adversely affected if there is any disruption in Utilities Inc. watering the golf course.

"If they don't have any way to get rid of the water, what happens to the sewage treatment plant? I have a lot of questions. Most of them would be answered by Utilities Inc." Borasky said.

Commissioner Joni Eastley indicated she has reservations about approving the project. She said there was a reason the area was zoned golf course, parks and open space.

"What's more important to me is the open space and the parks," she said.