Council Approves Duplex Project On Highland Drive

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Mesquite City Council approved a zoning request last week that could open the way for another big multi-family housing development to be built in Mesquite. At a meeting held Tuesday, April 26, the board approved a change on 31.7 acres at 220 Highland Drive from a zoning of Hotel Tourist use to a Multi-Family Residential (MF-2) designation.

In a brief report City Planner Richard Secrist explained that the developer was proposing to develop a townhome complex of 75 duplex buildings for a total of 150 units of housing. The proposed density for the project was at 4.73 units per acre.

The original request brought by the developer had asked for an MF-3 zoning which would have allowed a density of 20 units per acre. But since the developer’s plans had no intention of approaching that level of density the council negotiated, while in the meeting, to drop the proposed zoning to the MF-2 which allows for up to 12 units per acre.

Secrist explained that access to the development was being proposed from Pioneer Boulevard via Highland Drive. The 31 acre parcel includes a small strip of right-of-way leading south from Pioneer Blvd. to access the property.

During his report, Secrist expressed concern about this access plan. “A project of this size, with this number of units, probably should have a secondary access,” he said. “The only way to get that, however, would be through an adjoining property. That is something they have to seriously explore.”

“If that single access were ever blocked they couldn’t get access,” Secrist added. “You wouldn’t be able to get emergency vehicles in there. So we would hate to have that many homes just as sitting ducks if there was that kind of situation.”

Even so, Secrist said that this issue was outside the scope of the zoning request before the board that evening. Such issues would have to be resolved during the city planning process, he said.

Secrist recommended that the council approve the change. “It is kind of a downzoning,” he said. “Hotel Tourism zoning would allow much more intense development here if it were put into hotel and casino development. And this project will provide some much needed workforce housing.”
Councilman George Gault expressed concerns about the increased traffic all coming from the new development onto Pioneer Blvd to the north.

But City Public Works Director Travis Anderson said that the traffic coming from this new development would be relatively minor and would not be a concern.
“Pioneer is in good shape,” Anderson said. “That roadway is able to handle this development. I would have no problems about the traffic going onto Pioneer at that location.”

Much of public comment was concerned with the proposed density of the project. Many residents were worried about the broad spread between the 150 units being proposed and the possibility of more than 600 units available in the requested zoning. Some commenters said that, during the neighborhood meeting, the developer had said that the final plans may include some 8-unit buildings, called “8-plexes.”

“They say that they are proposing 152 units, but they are also leaving it open to where it could be 600,” said Steve Clutterham. “I think that needs to be more clearly defined before you tell them okay. That is a big difference.”

In a comment, Dylan Jensen who was representing the developer, acknowledged that he had said that they were considering including some eight-plexes during the neighborhood meetings.

“I didn’t want this situation where people are coming up and saying that I didn’t represent it correctly this way or that,” Jensen said. “But it was never the thought of doing the whole project that way. The majority of it we have always intended to do as duplex units.”

Either way, Jensen said that the development would have to go through the tentative map process before it could get final approval.
“All of this is just a conceptual drawing,” he said. “Anything that we eventually submit for a tentative map, people will have a chance to come and voice your opposition on whatever they want to say about it. We are just requesting zoning tonight.”

Councilman Wes Boger asked Jensen if there was any urgent need for the MF-3 zoning since they were only looking for less than 4 units per acre.

Jensen admitted that there was no reason for the higher zoning. He agreed that the plans would work just fine within the lower zoning category.

Councilwoman Karen Dutkowski, and other members of the public, expressed concerns about the uncertainty of water resources in the community. She said that a conjunctive study needs to be done to determine if there was adequate water supply to continue growing the community.

Councilman Brian Wursten said that each time these projects come before the council, the same concerns get raised, including the concerns about water.
“I have spent a lot of time with (General Manager) Kevin Brown over at the Virgin Valley Water District,” Wursten said. “Anybody that has questions about whether we have enough water needs to go spend some time with him. He explains it very well in talking about the aquifer.”

Wursten said that the water district’s extensive system of water monitoring wells throughout the region has shown no real drop in the underground water resource that serves the community, even despite the growth of the past 5-10 years.

Wursten agreed that he would also like to see a full conjunctive study done of the water resources.
“But that is going to cost somewhere between 1.5 to 2 million dollars to do that study,” Wursten said. “That study is supposed to be done by the state. But Mesquite is so far down the list of concern that it will be a very long time before the state feels that we need to have it done. I don’t know that we can afford to throw a couple million dollars at a conjunctive study when the state feels like we are okay.”
“I feel very comfortable where we are currently with the water,” Wursten added.

In the end, Wursten made the motion to approve the zone change to an MF-2 designation. The motion was approved with a 4-1 vote with only Dutkowski opposing it.