PARDEE HOMES VERSUS HOMEOWNERS: The fight for Eldorado

Community's residents, builder's representatives meet to discuss plans for proposed apartment complex rezoning

Top, homeowner Rod Smalls, right, urges Pardee Homes attorney Jennifer Lazovich to see his point at a meeting about opposed apartment construction held March 10 in the Dallas Conference Room at Texas Station, 2101 Texas Star Lane. Left, homeowners Pam and Don Clark, right, prepare to sign a petition against apartment construction, as fellow homeowners, from left, Robert Borgerson and Don Sparkman prepare for the meeting.Photos by Larry Cruikshank/View Larry Cruikshank/ViewDon Sparkman, standing in background, asks a question of Dan Hale, vice president of community development for Pardee Homes. The Eldorado rezone is set to be decided by the North Las Vegas City Council at its April 2 meeting. Top, homeowner Rod Smalls, right, urges Pardee Homes attorney Jennifer Lazovich to see his point at a meeting about opposed apartment construction held March 10 in the Dallas Conference Room at Texas Station, 2101 Texas Star Lane. Left, homeowners Pam and Don Clark, right, prepare to sign a petition against apartment construction, as fellow homeowners, from left, Robert Borgerson and Don Sparkman prepare for the meeting.Photos by Larry Cruikshank/View Advertisement

The story of Eldorado is legendary. Sir Walter Raleigh searched for the city of gold. Spanish explorers fought for the honor of being the first to set eyes upon it. It was never found.

Over 200 residents of the North Las Vegas master-planned community Eldorado met in the Dallas Room of Texas Station on the evening of March 10 to say that the shine has begun to wear off the development they said was once their golden opportunity to acquire equity in their homes and to raise families in a traditional single-family neighborhood. Pardee Homes plans to proceed with the sale of 15 acres adjacent to Seastrand Park to Wood Partners, South Acquisition LLC to build a 340-unit apartment complex at the northwest corner of Revere Street and Centennial Parkway.

"They sold us the dream of a planned community of single-family homes, and now they're destroying it," said Don Sparkman, a resident of Mandevilla within the Eldorado master plan.

"I moved in the area in the first phase in 1990, and I upgraded again with Pardee and moved where I did because of their planned 30-year build," Sparkman said.

The teamster truck driver turned activist said that at the time of his home purchase, he had noticed the master plan had three zoning designations. "They had a display map in their sales office and they said don't worry, 'that'll be park and more houses.' I specifically asked about it. Of course, now they're reneging on that. And so here we are now, we're stuck."

Representing Pardee Homes, attorney Jennifer Lazovich opened the March 10 meeting with an overview of the zoning of the property.

"When Pardee Homes entered into a development agreement in 1988 with the city of North Las Vegas, they attached an exhibit that contemplated the zoning for all of the parcels that are out there, the land that you live on and the land that has not yet been developed," Lazovich said.

As the crowd shifted in their seats and craned their necks to see, Lazovich presented a map of the Eldorado master plan.

"This is an overview of the 1,080-acre master plan with the undeveloped parcels shaded in blue," she said.

Lazovich pointed out acreage to the north zoned C-2 for commercial designation in addition to R-3, which is a multi-family designation that can include condos, town homes and apartments. Acreage within the master plan also has a R-CL designation for single-family homes.

"We turned in a revised plan for 340 units," Lazovich said, referencing the Eldorado Apartments parcel, "and it complies with every single aspect of the code from 1988."

Going on to outline the details of the project, Lazovich explained that along with the reduction of the original plans from 364 units to 340, revisions in the height of the complex had been made, with a reduction of the number of three-story buildings, with an effort to position three-story construction to the back of the development away from established residences.

"I understand as I stand up here today, that the No. 1 concern you all have is the fact that I'm even talking to you about apartments," Lazovich said.

Pearl Point and Pearl Cove Homeowners Association board member Sarah Humphreys expressed yet a larger concern -- the possibility of a total of up to 1,500 apartment units being developed within the Eldorado master plan.

"We were just so happy to finally be able to afford our first home here," said Humphreys, who has canvassed neighborhoods within the master plan to get the word out about the upcoming City Council Meeting for final action on April 2 and circulated a petition urging City Council to stop the apartment development. "But if I could get out and sell today, I would. I'm very disappointed with the way things have turned out. I'm extremely frustrated with Pardee."

Humphreys' concerns echoed those of the residents who attended the Texas Station meeting, who cited the overcrowding of schools, traffic concerns and a potential increase in vandalism and crime as population density increases.

"I lived in apartments before we bought our home," Humphreys said. "I am not against renters. I am against these apartments."

Eldorado residents Lauren Matejka, Frank Busits and B. Washington asked for Pardee Homes representatives, other than counsel, to comment during the course of the evening.

When Pardee Homes' Vice President of Community Development Dan Hale stood at the podium beside Lazovich, the question many residents asked was, "Why apartments?"

Pardee Homes' position remained clear. "We have an underlying agreement with the city," said Lazovich, in reference to the 1988 options in zoning for the master plan. "The coding of that time stays in effect today."

Final action for the site plan review for the Eldorado Apartments on the northwest corner of Revere Street and Centennial Parkway will be decided at the April 2 City Council meeting.

Humphreys is working to get the word out.

"The city has the right to terminate their agreement with the builder if there are issues with the health, safety and general welfare of the community," she said. "There hasn't been an up-to-date study on the impact of this development on the health, safety and general welfare of Eldorado. They're not thinking about us. They're thinking about the money. They're thinking about right now. They're not thinking about the future of North Las Vegas."