OPUS CONDOMINIUMS: Zoning Woes

Density-weary residents voice concerns about crime, overcrowding, rental conversion in future North Las Vegas complex

Above, homeowner Ken Angell expresses his concern about crime at a homeowners meeting in the Aliante Library, 2400 Deer Springs Way. Left, Ken Klosterman shares information with other homeowners prior to the meeting.Photos by larry Cruikshank/view larry Cruikshank/viewAttorney Anthony Celeste, standing right, listens to upset homeowners at a meeting at the Aliante Library, 2400 Deer Springs Way. He promised to pass on their concerns and get back to them. Above, homeowner Ken Angell expresses his concern about crime at a homeowners meeting in the Aliante Library, 2400 Deer Springs Way. Left, Ken Klosterman shares information with other homeowners prior to the meeting.Photos by larry Cruikshank/view Advertisement

It was a bit like piecing together the scene of a crime for residents of Aliante and Highland Hills in North Las Vegas as they gathered in Meeting Room 2 on a chilly evening Jan. 15 in the Aliante Library on 2400 Deer Springs Way.

From what residents Steve Lauber and Ken Klosterman described as glossy brochures of open, grassy areas and beautiful single-family homes in previous developments in the area, to a not-so-glossy reality of those same developments turned to tri-level condos-turned-rentals, a trail of zoning changes and high-density development has made ardent investigators of ordinary citizens.

The residents' current cause for concern is an application to reclassify Opus Condominiums, a project to be built on a 24-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Centennial Parkway and Valley Drive, from a planned unit district development allowing 18 units per acre, to a R-3, multi-family residential district, which was brought before the Planning Commission Jan. 9.

Lauber and Klosterman said they were concerned with crime, such as incidents of arson, hot-rodding and break-ins that have occurred in other complexes-turned-rentals.

The gathering was called together by attorney Robert Gronauer, representing GSL Properties on behalf of Route 215 Investors, as a means of opening the lines of communication between the developer of the condominiums and the concerned single-family home residents bordering the project. Gronauer did not attend. Attorney Anthony Celeste fielded questions and presented the developers' position.

The change would bring a proposed 439 units of one- and two-bedroom condominiums to as many as 600 units, which could mean as many as 25 units per acre.

The trail does not end there. What residents in the surrounding area of Centennial Parkway and Valley Drive say they find suspect is whether in the present real estate market Opus Condominiums would remain a development of residences for sale. With a R-3 zoning, the development could go straight to lease or rental property.

"When you look at the indexes," Lauber said, "the city of North Las Vegas offers the most affordable housing in the valley. They are trying to turn our neighborhood into the most affordable and least desirable in North Las Vegas."

Lauber, who is the president of the homeowners association for Jasmine Ranch Condominiums, a gated complex at 5855 Valley Drive, and Klosterman, vice president of the Highland Hills Homeowners Association, cited developments in the area such as American Premiere Homes' Palmilla complex bordered by North Decatur, Valley Drive, the Bruce Woodbury Beltway and El Campo Grande. Constructed in 2005, the development of two- to four-bedroom residences are now marketed as apartment/townhome units.

"We're stuffed," Klosterman said. "You were approved in 2005 for the PUD with 18 units per acre. Why do you need more?"

Celeste answered his question on behalf of the developers.

"Number one, the change conforms with the city's master plan adopted in 2006," Celeste said. "Number two, I am not going to deny it, the more units, the more profitable."

The PUD to R-3 zoning change for Opus Condominiums was approved by the Planning Commission and will go on to the City Council for its final stamp of approval or dismissal.

According to Celeste, residents can look for the application to appear before the City Council sometime in early February, a date that he assures homeowners he will inform them of well in advance.

"We want to try to resolve misconceptions and move forward," he said. "We want to keep an open dialogue before formal adoption."

"Sounds like it's already done," said Ken Angell a homeowner in the Traditions neighborhood and member of the North Las Vegas Alliance of Home Owners Associations and Concerned Citizens. "Our officials have already sold us down the river. All we can do is make certain that whatever they do from here, they go about it the right way."

For more information about the North Las Vegas Alliance Of Home Owners Associations and Concerned Citizens, visit www.nlvalliance.com, or call 325-6708.