HORSE PROPERTY: Riding out of town

Sharon Voelpel recalls riding horses as a girl visiting Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s. One of her favorite trails was in a large expanse of desert behind the former Silver Slipper hotel, not far from the Strip. When she later moved to the valley, she thought of it as the perfect place where she could commute to a city job, then go home to a quiet, rural setting and pursue her passion for horseback riding.

"I've always enjoyed being around horses. There's a sort of calmness about them and they impart some of their calmness to you," Voelpel said. "It's my way of unwinding. Some people run, some people go to the gym. I get on my horse and ride."

In recent years, however, finding a safe place to ride has become increasingly difficult. City expansion and the influences it brings have diminished the usefulness of many ranch properties in the valley and have completely wiped out others.

Las Vegas horse owners enjoy contrasting lifestyles

Cities such as Las Vegas allow ranch property owners to work in industries that are only found in major cities. A relatively short commute has many stables within 10 minutes of the Strip. Many ranchers, ironically, work in businesses tied to the very development that threatens their way of life.

"We moved out (to the southwestern valley) because we didn't want to live in the city," said Charlene Peterson, a local representative for lending giant Fannie Mae. "Having horse property is a lifestyle. We don't go out dining after work, we go straight home because we have animals to feed."

Other riders love city life, but want a place to take a break from it. Voelpel's daughter, Amanda Landry, divides her time between an urban and rural lifestyle. A graphic designer for an ad agency, Landry is as city as they come: She enjoys the club scene, lives in an apartment, hates country music and has a pierced navel.

Having grown up around horses, they are an integral part of the Las Vegas native's life. Between her job and social life, Landry regularly cares for the two horses she keeps at her parents' property on a dusty drive near Industrial Road in the southwestern valley.

Landry said many people she meets, generally out-of-towners and recent arrivals, are surprised that a Las Vegas urbanite owns horses.

"People act all surprised when you mention that you can raise horses in Las Vegas. I make up something like, `Oh yes, we keep them behind Caesars Palace,'" Landry said.

Voelpel and other ranch owners wonder how much longer that will last. Ranches have existed in Las Vegas since before there was a Las Vegas, but they are rapidly dwindling in quantity as owners sell them to developers.

Following the frontier

When Voelpel and her husband, John, decided to find a home where they could keep their Arabian horses, they bought their first ranch property more than 20 years ago near Ann Road and El Capitan Way. The lot, which measured 1 1/4 acres, cost only $40,000, compared to the lot they purchased last year, which cost $120,000 for less than an acre.

Yes, it was a rural area then, rural enough that no one gave much thought to the possibility of it ending, much less so quickly.

"We used to ride to Lone Mountain and back from Ann Road. Now look at all that has gone in there," Voelpel said. "That was 20 years ago. Twenty years doesn't seem like a long period of time."

In hindsight, Voelpel is pleased that she was able to live in the home as long as she did before the rural lifestyle gave way to suburbia.

When it did, the Voelpels did what many longtime Las Vegans did -- move to the city's new frontier.

Their next home, near Grand Teton Drive and Jones Boulevard, maintained its character for nearly 10 years. The home was situated in a zone designated as a Rural Neighborhood Preservation area. Several areas of Clark County are defined as RNPs, a designation which affects policy regarding zoning and development standards, and influences policy for developments in surrounding areas.

Even under the best of circumstances, these bordering developments ultimately affect the lifestyle within RNPs, Voelpel said. Not so long after the Voelpels moved into their home, Champion Homes began development on a large subdivision, later finished by KB Home. The development was situated in the city of Las Vegas, which has its own set of guidelines. The city had no such preservation policies, but required the developer to create "buffer" zones where its property bordered the RNP.

Although some complementary development was placed on portions of the new community bordering the RNP, some residents found the finished project to be less than compatible. Streets were widened, traffic volume soared and horse properties were separated from riding trails as development enveloped the RNP. The trail system added, while meant to accommodate horses, was more decorative than functional. The rural neighborhood was left untouched, but not unaffected.

So once again, the Voelpels -- like many of their neighbors -- moved to yet another new city frontier, this one in the southwestern portion of the valley. Like their previous homes, this one is in a declared RNP.

County policy reconciles, buffers competing land uses

Rod Allison of the county's Comprehensive Planning Department said his office attempts to create "buffer zones" between various development areas. Around RNPs, buffer zones are designed to allow rural residents to maintain the character of their neighborhoods, while allowing development to proceed.

Some, however, are difficult to reconcile to their surroundings. A few RNPs, for instance, are practically across the street from McCarran International Airport, while others are near transportation hubs -- prime areas for high-density uses. Others are in high-noise areas resulting from overhead air traffic.

Allison said the county has rules and priorities for RNP areas within their jurisdiction, which does not include Las Vegas proper, or any other incorporated city.

"There are six or seven main policies that should be addressed when a developer enters an RNP area or plans to develop on the border of one," Allison said. "These policies are set up to preserve these areas and to allow them to co-exist with other land use areas."

Considerations include how a rural neighborhood should look, including street widths, setbacks of houses and placement of animal facilities. There are also general policies regarding transitional densities and uses. For example, single-family homes with fairly large lots or low-rise office complexes are considered compatible transitional uses near rural residential areas.

Policies are a bit vague, which Allison said allows the county to be flexible enough to address specific needs. Based on what the RNP borders, the transitional space varies.

"What this (policy) is really saying is if you have a master plan wrapping around (a rural neighborhood), you need to map out your land to be complementary to these areas," Allison said.

Opinions of what qualifies as complementary differ. Many ranch owners aren't keen on anything commercial, not even a daytime-only office. They find a new subdivision, office building or industrial park to be a rude addition to the neighborhood.

Others don't mind offices, so long as they don't stand out as such. Allison said development standards can make an office not look like an office.

"They can be made to have a residential look to them," Allison said. "You can prescribe different lighting, monument signing, colors that blend in with nearby homes ..."

Start the countdown

Although their latest home has not been completed, the Voelpels know the clock has already started. To the south of them is Southern Highlands, which began development years before they moved to the area. To the west is a planned community by Focus Commercial with office and commercial components.

Plans for the new community call for public amenities such as trails and lower development densities in areas bordering the RNP. The Voelpels are resigned to the belief that more urban land uses eventually will follow, regardless of current plans. Streets will widen, pavement will envelop their area and eventually they will move again.

"They say when you get the city water and the city sewer, you can start counting your days. One day they'll pave your roads like they're being all nice and once that happens, it's over," Voelpel said.

Even leaving a rural neighborhood untouched, development has a way of eroding its value, Voelpel explained. As traffic and paved ground (slippery for horses) approach, horse owners are left with nowhere safe to ride and with no access to open lands outside the city. Noise and light come ever closer, diminishing the rural experience.

As ranch owners move, many of their properties are purchased by people with different interests, often developers who request zoning changes for a parcel on the border of such an area. As more owners leave, more ranches are bought out and converted to suburban uses.

Such was the case for the Silk Purse Ranch, a 25-year-old horse boarding facility within the city of Las Vegas that closed its stable doors in April. Meg McNamee, who owned the property, had resisted selling out to developers, but slumping business and large offers made the decision to sell an easy one, especially since she had long ago moved to California. The property, which is also the final resting place for many of its former equine tenants, will be redeveloped as housing.

Closer to downtown, the Binion ranch on Bonanza Road, which still has a pasture and horses, is on the market and is expected by its listing agent to become a commercial property more in line with surrounding uses, which include equipment rental, an apartment complex and a landscaping rock company.

Development marches on

Donna Hodge, a real estate agent specializing in ranch estates, said ranch properties are popular for redevelopment. The larger, the better.

"They make good commercial properties because they are big and they have lots of parking," Hodge said.

Hodge said the number of ranch estates countywide has dwindled steadily for at least 10 years. Where she once sold about 50 to 75 per year, she now sells about 20 to 25 per year. Listings are slim. She said few people want to buy a ranch property as such anymore, because many have lost their rural quality and usefulness to the recreational rider.

"They're going to be so enclosed that they're going to have to trailer their horses out of the area to ride," Hodge said.

Instead, she has seen many of her clients leave for Idaho and for rural communities near the Las Vegas Valley, such as Pahrump and Cold Creek. Those who stay, she said, must compete with bicycles (which can startle horses), traffic and other hazards as development fills in.

"It's going to be real tough for people who want to ride," Hodge said. "They might have to compromise quite a lot."

Another realty agent, Elaine McNamara, said some developers will play Monopoly, slowly acquiring parcels along a street or block. One, 2 or 5 acres at a time, builders will amass adjoining parcels until they have a significant enough portion to go before the city or county and petition for a zoning change so they can build a commercial property or a subdivision.

"All the west area of town was rural at one time, but eventually a developer would come along and make them an offer," McNamara said. "Once they have it, who can tell them what they can build there? They get the zoning changes. They hire the best attorneys around to get it."

McNamara believes zoning and RNPs are effective -- so long as civic leaders adhere to the policy. Things change, especially when demand for housing heats up.

"They can tell you certain areas are designated rural, but who's to say it will be that way in five years?" she said.

Counting the days

Voelpel is certain that day isn't long.

"We hope that we have five years of quiet time here before we have to move again," she said. "Everybody with horses would prefer to see the land undisturbed, but they realize that's unrealistic.

"It's too bad they can't say, `OK, (the ranch community) can have the outskirts around the valley.'"

Voelpel wonders if even that is far enough. She expects either ranch owners will entrench where they are, or their properties will slowly disappear from the valley as development pressure becomes too great.

"You'll see (development) keep stretching until it hits Sloan and keep stretching until it hits Jean," she said.S U N D A Y , J U N E 2 , 2 0 0 2

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