Many people are up in arms after Clark County Commissioners gave the OK to bulldoze some land that has a lot of wildlife. The area near Eastern and Harmon avenues was once considered a wetland.
You don't have to listen too closely to hear the sound of the bugs buzzing away inside the fenced-in lot. Owls and frogs, among other creatures, have taken up residence.
"I would like to go there and listen to the birds and hear the animals and see the animals," said Laurine Laidlaw.
It's a big part of the reason people like Laidlaw don't want the wildlife-filled area to be bulldozed and turned into a senior care facility.
"We want it around for the neighborhood," she said. "So everybody can enjoy it to put a few benches and clean it up and put maybe a pathway and educational plaques."
But there's one main issue. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the area, as lively as it may seem, it not officially considered a wetland.
"They deemed that it was not a wetland," said Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak. "It's not part of the wetlands and for that reason, they (the builders) can't be denied the ability to build on it."
That's why Clark County Commissioners approved a local developer to bulldoze on the land.
"The only way you can actually stop them from building on it would be for the folks to buy it," he said.
Sisolak says the decision will not be overturned. Laidlaw and other petitioners are trying to accept it.
"If they could develop around the wetland and preserve the natural flow here that would be a compromise more of a win-win, or a compromise," said Laidlaw.
