Henderson acquires 5,473 acres

     By Chris Jones
     View staff writer
      For the past decade, Henderson residents have become accustomed to their hometown growing by leaps and bounds.
      The city's latest jump in size, however, was one of Olympic proportion.
      On Aug. 2, the City Council unanimously voted to finalize the annexation of 5,473 acres located west and southwest of the old city limits -- east of Interstate 15 and south of St. Rose Parkway (formerly Lake Mead Drive).
      In one motion, Nevada's second-largest city added nearly 8.5 square miles to its former total of approximately 84 square miles. While the additional acreage will give the city substantially more room to grow, Mayor Jim Gibson said the efforts to annex the property stemmed primarily out of problems in coordinating plans for its use with neighboring Clark County.
      The annexation, Gibson said, will protect current and future developments located near Henderson's former western borders.
      "When you look at what's going on in Seven Hills, Anthem and further (east) at MacDonald Ranch, we have an obligation to protect the quality of everything that's around those developments," Gibson said. "This is government's role.
      "(The city) is not going to build (on the annexed property), we're not going to own it, but we are going to require that the standards imposed on whatever develops there are our standards, and our standards are high."
      Henderson's development standards will be enforced, thanks to a land-use plan approved by the City Council in March. Because most of the annexed lands are currently desolate, city officials can move forward with a clean slate in preparing the area's future growth.
      "We have created an opportunity for us to plan the gateway to our city," Gibson said. "Because it is government land, we get to plan this in a way that will allow us to have exactly what we want out there."
      Approximately 87 percent of the annexation area is currently held by the federal Bureau of Land Management, although small portions are privately owned.
      Henderson officials estimate the area's current population to be less than 200 people. Following the annexation, the city's projections indicate those totals could reach close to 58,000 residents by 2008.
      Gibson's timetable for development is more conservative. He expects it will take one to two years before large portions of land are sold to private developers, making it three to five years before any significant development is likely to take place.
      Despite the probable wait, the mayor is excited about what will happen once the development process starts.
      "We see wonderful master-planned communities with a lot of open space, we see the opportunity for a little industry, business and professional (sites) -- really a mixed use," Gibson said. "It will be almost a self-contained community out there."
      Other planned improvements include two fire stations, 12 school sites, a 200-acre golf course and multiple park sites to serve residents in the area.