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Council rejects large West Side Jackson Avenue projects; developer told to return with smaller proposal
Summary
Two related West Side proposals that would have changed zoning and allowed buildings well above current form-based-code limits were denied after residents and staff said the scale was incompatible and community outreach remained incomplete.
The Las Vegas City Council on June 18 denied two land-use applications—commonly referred to at the hearing as the Jackson Street projects—that would have rezoned properties on Jackson Avenue and Van Buren Avenue and allowed high-rise mixed-use developments including a hotel, casino and more than 300 apartments.
The developer—s team framed the proposal as a catalytic investment in the historic West Side, citing the site—s mid-century Town Tavern history and stressing job creation, a theater and a boutique hotel. Architect Kevin Thistle and project representatives laid out a multi-building plan that included a gated casino space, a 207-room hotel, a rooftop pool, about 336 multifamily units on an adjacent parcel, theatrical and cultural venues, and an eight-level public parking structure.
"This project will be a landmark destination," project architect Kevin Thistle told the council, outlining theater, performing arts and cultural spaces and telling councilmembers the applicant had preliminary Federal Aviation Administration clearance for proposed heights.
City staff and the planning commission recommended denial. Staff said the applications would constitute spot zoning, would rely on variances for height well above the T4 transect limits the form-based code assigns to the neighborhood, and did not conform to the 2045 downtown master plan and the West Las Vegas/Hunter Plan guidance. Peter Lowenstein, planning staff, said the requests represented "self-imposed hardships and preferential" zoning changes.
Residents and neighborhood representatives expressed broad concern about traffic, noise, incompatible scale, incomplete outreach and the project—s financial readiness. Several longtime West Side residents and community leaders urged the council to require a lower-scale, more incremental project. "This is a behemoth on less than 2 acres," Councilwoman Sandra Summers Armstrong said in explaining her motion to deny. She said the community wants development but not at the intensity and scale proposed.
The council held separate motions on the two project applications: the southern parcel application (item 60) and the northern parcel application (item 61). Councilwoman Summers Armstrong moved to deny the southern parcel application; the motion passed. The council then denied the northern parcel application in a separate vote.
Project representatives said they would consider reworking the plan to match existing zoning and work more closely with neighborhood stakeholders. City Attorney Jeff Dorkak noted that if the rezoning requests were denied, the property owner retains existing zoning and the site—s grandfathered nonrestrictive gaming license; the owner could come back with a project that fits current zoning at any time.
The council—s action leaves in place city zoning rules in the West Side and underscores the council—s caution about spot zoning and high-intensity development on small historic parcels. Developers who wish to pursue revitalization in the West Side were urged by councilmembers to pursue smaller-scale, community-aligned proposals and to return with proposals that match the area—s form-based code and the goals of the Hunter Plan.
