The owner of the Badlands Golf Club in northwest Las Vegas plans to press ahead with the controversial proposal to turn the 27-hole course into a residential development.
Yohan Lowie, CEO and co-founder of Badlands owner EHB Cos., has been under fire by some residents of neighboring Queensridge over his plans. They contend using the golf course land for housing is improper and would harm the character of the upscale community.
In fact, Lowie told KNPR's State of Nevada that two of his associates were threatened by a homeowner over the plans.
According to Lowie, during a meeting about the plans for the development, people who live in the area, whom he would not name, told his associates that they would fight the project every step of the way and take accusations of bribery and collusion to the local media, if they were not given 183 acres of land and the water rights assigned to the land.
"We felt threatened," he said. He said it felt like a shakedown. He said the same group has threatened other people as well, including people at the city.
"We think it is inappropriate behavior," he said, "They are unlawfully interfering with our rights to develop and demanding inappropriate demands from us that we cannot possibly agree with."
Lowie said a "record" of the meeting has been turned over to the authorities, but he would not saw which law enforcement agency it was.
Those opposed to the plan say it is against the community's master plan, and their home values are already being impacted.
Lowie said they are going to have plenty of green space and trees for homeowners.
"So what homeowners would see from their backyard, including myself, is a gorgeous, one of a kind, not probably to be replicated in this town scenery of green pastures, trees and mega-estates in between," he said.
He also said they've scaled back the original plan of 3,000 high-density luxury condominiums along Rampart Drive to 2,400. Plus, they are not actually building all the houses they're allowed to on the property.
Lowie said he lives in the area, and he has developed Tivoli Village, One Queensridge and he owns land near Boca Park. Which all adds up, he said, to caring about how this property is developed.
"We have more vested interest than anybody else in the neighborhood to see to it that this piece of property [is] developed correctly with the right type of product. The right type of density and increase in the entire property value to the area," he said.
The latest plan is scheduled to be heard before the planning commission next month.
Yohan Lowie, prospective developer, Badlands Golf Club