A proposed expansion doubling the number of hotel rooms of The Resort at Summerlin might still move forward, despite being rejected by the Las Vegas Planning and Zoning Commission.
Seven Circle Resorts, the developer of the project, recently asked the commission for approval to build a second 300-room hotel tower for its planned upscale resort-hotel-casino on 54 acres at the southwest corner of Rampart Boulevard and Summerlin Parkway.
The builder also asked to double the size of its health spa to 40,000 square feet, to add two floors and 53,000 square feet of parking to its garage and to enlarge the restaurants and the casino by 3,000 square feet each.
The company was denied the change at last week's Planning and Zoning Commission meeting by a vote of 5 to 2. But Seven Circle still has the ability to appeal the decision to the City Council within 10 days of the rejection, which gives the company six more days to decide.
"We'll know before the end of the 10th day," said Brian McMullen, president of Seven Circle Resorts of Nevada. "We haven't had a formal meeting to decide anything."
The city's planning division recommended that the request be denied for several reasons. The first, because with the additional tower, restaurant, casino and retail space, parking for The Resort would be inadequate.
"We're showing that they're 752 spaces short of meeting our standards," said Bob Genzer, planning supervisor for the city.
Also in question was the addition of 40,000 square feet of retail space that was originally slated as a lifestyle center.
"There was some confusion on that issue," said Genzer. "We thought it was more like a health spa or something. Then the proposed amendment, making it retail, raises concerns of the ability of the street and highway facilities."
In addition, the planning department was generally unhappy with the request, stating the new plan was "exceeding the scope and scale of a resort casino originally proposed by the applicant."
City Councilman Larry Brown, who represents parts of Summerlin, said he would reserve judging the application until it was officially appealed and there was a chance to look at the application.
"There are a lot of conflicting stories," he said. "The highest priority is: 'Has there been public participation throughout this process and what are the significant changes and why?"
Other council members are taking Brown's approach and holding off until the item comes before the City Council before deciding. None, though, seemed in favor of the company changing its plan when the original had already been approved.
"That's just not how it works," said Brown, who was formerly on the city's planning commission.
According to sources in the planning department, the company will be appealing the decision by citing a letter of approval from the Howard Hughes Corp., which is selling Seven Circle the land and which created the Summerlin development surrounding The Resort.
McMullen said he couldn't comment on which direction Seven Circle was leaning toward. But regardless of the final decision and outcome, he was disappointed the commission rejected their proposal, though he added it wouldn't slow things down for the rest of the project that's already been approved.
"You see the quality of the resort, and we think it's pretty good," McMullen said. "We think it's an asset to Summerlin. It's five-star quality. The fact is, we're going to build a casino resort there. The only dispute is over the size."
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