LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Plans for a new casino, resort, and sports arena on the north end of the Strip are continuing to move forward.
On Wednesday, Clark County commissioners approved permits for the project, which is currently known as LVXP.
The site would be where the Wet 'n' Wild waterpark used to be, which is near Fontainebleau and the Sahara. The casino and resort would have three high-rise towers, which will include over 2,000 hotel rooms, a 6,000-seat theater, and an 18,000-seat arena.
WATCH: Vision for potential sports arena on the north end of the Strip take shape
People who live in Turnberry Towers and Turnberry Place, which is near the site, voiced concerns during the meeting saying they've been disappointed before.
"We dealt with All Net year after year after year and yet, nothing. We'd like to know the timeline, financing, what we can expect. We'd love for this project to come through. But again, I see All Net on the top of this. What's their involvement? Is this just another development company saying 'Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We can do this" or is this really going to happen," one woman told commissioners. "We've been looking at an empty hole for way too long. Way too long. We want something to go in there and we want some action."
She said the site is not properly secured and they've also had to deal with unhoused individuals coming onto their property. That was echoed by community manager Jason Bishop.
"I actually walked the site yesterday and the fence is completely cut. It's kind of a disaster in there," Bishop said. "There's some vagrants living in there. They kind of have makeshift ladders to get over the wall to the Turnberry Place property with the 773 homes. Our security is really having to be diligent in watching that, if we can beef up some security over there until this project happens."
While developers say they've already met with neighbors at three different meetings, including a Winchester Town Advisory Board meeting last month, neighbors say they would like to have more input in the project.
"Any time you live in a neighborhood, I feel it's incumbent upon you, as a newbie in the neighborhood, to get with the people that have been there. I've been at Turnberry Place 18 years so I believe I speak from a position of a right to talk about it and I do not feel that any of our concerns, as a community, were ever addressed, let alone even asked about," another neighbor told commissioners. "That sets a precedent, in my mind, for what kind of neighbors you have the anticipation of experiencing as time goes on over the years. If the people that move in next door to you have absolutely no concern with you and don't care about you, you know what you can get from those people and it's probably not going to be a satisfactory, ongoing relationship."
WATCH: Developers pitch new vision for former Wet 'n' Wild site on Las Vegas Boulevard
Other concerns included water runoff, access to their homes during construction, traffic, and keeping the surrounding area clean.
Developers told commissioners they have been factoring in residents concerns and opinions, which has led to them commissioning water and traffic studies.
"We understand, given the history of this property, they expressed concerns about what would happen if we don't do what we say we're going to do and they suggested we should have a decommissioning plan and a performance agreement. The conditions that I mentioned, that your staff suggested, that we have agreed to require that," said Rory Reid, an attorney who spoke on behalf of the developers. "Until we negotiate that with you, we cannot receive a building permit."
Developers have not submitted a signage package yet and say there will be a public hearing when those plans are submitted to get feedback from neighbors.
"I think this displays our willingness to continue to work with the neighbors and this will be an ongoing process," Reid said. "Our plans may change a little bit and we may need to make adjustments but we'll be back to talk about all the issues I've discussed and we'll continue, as we have been, to involve the neighbors along the way."
