By: Las Vegas Now Staff
Nellis Air Force base commanders have won their fight to stop the proposed development of condos at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The speedway wanted to build a 126-unit condo building on the south end of the track. The county planning commission approved the project in Nov., but the air force appealed and late Wednesday afternoon, the project was killed at a hearing that lasted more than two hours.
The lawyers for the speedway had sent a letter to commissioners saying the hearing was invalid and they refused to participate. Commissioners discounted that letter and held the meeting anyway.
Air force base officals said the building of the condos would create a safety hazard for condo residents as well as pilots. The condos would have been built 1.3 miles from the end of the runway.
The base commander said it was not a matter of if there would be an accident near the base, but when. Even Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons testified in support of killing the speedway condo project.
“You don't really want to start encroaching on the base because you put it at risk for closure, for moving to some other place. That is $4.2 billion to our economy that this base represents to Clark County, Las Vegas and the state of nevada. That is very important,” said Gov. Jim Gibbons.
