Neighbors in rural Henderson oppose Hindu temple

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - A community in rural Henderson is strongly against a proposed Hindu temple complex that the city’s Planning Commission will vote on Thursday.

The American Hindu Association is proposing to build a Hindu temple complex on five acres of land on the southeast corner of Kiel Street and Berlin Avenue. Plans include multiple buildings for worship and living areas. The applicant has anticipated six 24-events.

The American Hindu Association is requesting a Conditional Use Permit. In April they had initially requested to re-zone the area but have since adjusted their request. Religious assembly is Federally protected.

The location is within a Rural Neighborhood Preservation area where there are no sidewalks and no streetlights. Residents say they enjoy the privacy yet the sense of community they share with neighbors.

Autumn Hood’s backyard overlooks the proposed site.

“We know each other’s kids, we’re in each other’s homes and lives, and you just don’t find that,” Hood said.

She created a website and plans to be one of many neighbors opposing the plans during the commission meeting.

“We have large lots where we can’t hear or see our neighbors in our windows, we don’t get disturbed by noises because we’re far away from one another that our lives don’t impact on one another. And it just seems like having festivals and gatherings of people on property in every point and turn seem to be commercially used by general public just isn’t what fits in our neighborhood,” Hood said.

The applicant’s plans include a multipurpose building, a residence for a priest, and residential quarters for short and long-term visiting pilgrims.

“They’ve stated they will have pilgrims living in these residences rent-free of course but from 3-30 days without them ever having to be a resident, without us knowing their identities and having this kind of turnover of random people from wherever, whoever coming in and out of our neighborhood sounds like a safety concern to me and my children,” Hood said.

Renderings of the proposed complex include 105 parking spaces. Residents that surround the empty lot question the applicant’s proposal that they will restrict the site to no more than 20 people at a time.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s something they’re honestly trying to attain. I think that they’re putting that there to achieve the approval,” Hood said.

Directly across the street and literally feet from her front door, Shari Warren said she’s nervous ahead of the meeting. She moved into her home in 1994 when Racetrack Road was the only stretch that had sidewalks. She raises serious concerns about the proposal.

“There are so many other questions I have. Why would you put that in the middle here? We have two churches totally ok with right down the road but they’re not surrounded by houses,” Warren said.

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