A 100-Foot Verizon Tower Is Proposed Near Starr and Rainbow, and Mountains Edge Residents Get a Say Oct. 21

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

Carmine Dionisio lives in the Mountains Edge community in southwest Las Vegas. He recently got a notice in the mail about a proposed communications tower near Starr Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard. The notice asked residents whether they supported or opposed the project. He told KTNV he opposes it, and his reason was simple: he felt the notice did not include enough information.

Clark County officials told KTNV the tower would be about 100 feet tall and would be used for Verizon Wireless. According to the county, it would be surrounded by a chain-link security fence and would include small support buildings and backup generators. The county says the project area covers about 632 acres. To be clear, that number describes the larger parcel the tower would sit on, not the size of the tower site itself.

The county's own paperwork adds more detail. The project appears on the Sept. 30, 2026 agenda of the Enterprise Town Advisory Board as item UC-26-0547-USA. It is a use permit for a communication tower and all ancillary equipment. It also asks for two waivers of development standards: one to waive full off-site improvements, and one for modified driveway geometrics. It includes a design review for the tower and its equipment on a portion of 632.04 acres zoned RS20, which is Residential Single-Family 20. The agenda describes the location as generally south of Starr Avenue and east of Buffalo Drive within Enterprise. The item is marked for final action at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Oct. 21, 2026.

That Sept. 30 advisory board meeting was the first public meeting on the tower. It was held at 6 p.m. at the Silverado Ranch Community Center, 9855 Gilespie Street. Dionisio said he would have liked to go, but the timing did not work. He told KTNV the notice was stamped on the 24th and the meeting was six days later, which did not feel like enough time to respond.

He also raised a bigger worry about the land itself. He told KTNV the nearby federal property already has a dumping problem. People walk, bike, drive and set off fireworks out there, he said, even though signs warn against trespassing and dumping. Some of the signs and parts of the fencing have been removed or damaged. KTNV reached out to the Bureau of Land Management, which handles illegal dumping on federal land, and a response was not immediately available.

An old couch and cushions dumped on the rocky open desert near Starr Avenue in southwest Las Vegas

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

Start with the view. One of the best things about living in the southwest valley is looking out at the mountains. Dionisio put it plainly to KTNV. He said the area already has a local dump, and now there is a tower that would change the landscape of the beautiful mountains residents enjoy. On open, flat desert, a 100-foot structure is hard to miss.

Now look at the other side. Cell coverage matters. Southwest Las Vegas has grown fast, and a lot of people now work from home, stream TV over their phones, and count on their cell signal for emergencies. More homes and more devices put more load on the network. Carriers add towers to keep up. So some neighbors may see a new tower as a fair trade for better service. Others will see it as a permanent change to a view they paid for. Both reactions are reasonable, and that is exactly why the public hearing exists.

There is also the question of notice. A lot of residents only learn about a project when a card shows up in the mailbox. If that card arrives with less than a week before the first meeting, many people will miss it. Dionisio's frustration is common in fast-growing parts of Clark County. The good news is that the first meeting is not the last word. The advisory board only makes a recommendation. The County Commission makes the final call on Oct. 21.

The dumping issue is a separate fight, but it hits home just as hard. Couches, brush piles and trash on open land are an eyesore. They can attract pests, create fire risk, and make a neighborhood feel neglected. Dionisio told KTNV he wants the land better monitored no matter what happens with the tower. He said signs are only as good as the enforcement behind them. That is a point plenty of southwest valley neighbors would agree with.

For homeowners, both issues touch the same thing: how a neighborhood looks and feels. When buyers tour homes in Mountains Edge, the open views and the clean edges of the community are part of what they are paying for. Anything that changes that picture is worth paying attention to, whether it is a tower or a pile of junk on the lot next door.

Background and History

Mountains Edge is a large master-planned community in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley. It sits in unincorporated Clark County, inside the town of Enterprise. That detail matters. Because Enterprise is not its own city, land use decisions there are made by Clark County, not by the City of Las Vegas. Residents have a voice through the Enterprise Town Advisory Board, a group of local members created by the County Commission to give input on matters in the town and forward concerns to the commissioners.

Here is how the process works. When someone applies for a zoning change, a use permit, or a design review in Enterprise, the item goes to the Enterprise Town Advisory Board first. The board hears from the applicant and the public and makes a recommendation. Then the item moves on for final action, either to the Clark County Planning Commission or to the Board of County Commissioners sitting as the Zoning Commission. The Sept. 30 agenda says this directly: all planning and zoning matters heard at that meeting are forwarded to the County Commission or the Planning Commission for final action. For the Verizon tower, the final stop is the County Commission on Oct. 21.

The land around the proposed site is a big part of this story. KTNV reported that the nearby property is federal land, and that the Bureau of Land Management handles illegal dumping concerns there. The county agenda lists the tower item under the name "USA" and describes the larger parcel as 632.04 acres. Large stretches of open federal land sit right up against neighborhoods in the southwest valley. That open space is part of why the views are so good. It is also why dumping and trespassing can be hard to police. Nobody lives on it, and the agency in charge is not the same one that handles your street or your HOA.

A pile of dead brush with trash caught in it on the federal desert land near Mountains Edge in southwest Las Vegas

Dionisio told KTNV that no trespassing signs went up in the past six months to a year, and people pull them down and keep coming out anyway. That lines up with what many residents near open desert see: new signs and fences help for a while, then get damaged, and the problem comes back.

This tower is also not the only one on the Enterprise list. The same Sept. 30 agenda includes a second use permit for a communication tower, item UC-26-0543-USA. That one is on a portion of 20 acres zoned PF, or Public Facility, generally north of Wigwam Avenue and west of Durango Drive within Enterprise. It is also marked for final action at the County Commission on Oct. 21. If you live near Wigwam and Durango, that date applies to you too.

What Happens Next

The big date is Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. That is when the Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to take final action on the Starr Avenue tower, item UC-26-0547-USA. The commissioners sit as the Zoning Commission at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, in the Commission Chambers on the first floor. These zoning meetings are typically held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 9 a.m., and they air live on Clark County Television. Check the posted agenda a few days ahead, since items can be held, moved or delayed.

At that meeting, commissioners can approve the permit, approve it with conditions, deny it, or hold it for a later date. Conditions can cover things like the tower's design, landscaping, or how the site is fenced. That is why specific comments from neighbors can matter. Telling commissioners "I don't like it" is one thing. Telling them exactly what concerns you, such as the view, the generators, or the access road, gives them something they can act on.

On the dumping side, watch for a response from the Bureau of Land Management. KTNV asked the agency about the condition of the property and whether there are plans to address it. As of the story's publication, the agency had not responded. Residents who want cleanup do not have to wait for the tower vote. That is a separate issue, and you can report it now.

The Enterprise Town Advisory Board's next meeting is Oct. 14, 2026. It will not decide the tower, but its general public comment period is a chance to raise the dumping and fencing problems on the record.

Ryan's Take

I spend a lot of my time in the southwest valley, and I hear the same thing from buyers over and over: they love the open feel and the mountain views. So I get why a 100-foot tower near Starr and Rainbow makes people nervous. At the same time, I also hear from buyers and sellers who work from home and need a strong signal. Bad cell service is a real complaint in parts of the valley, and it comes up when people tour homes. A tower is not automatically bad news for a neighborhood. Where it goes and how it looks is what matters.

What bothers me more is the dumping. A tower is one structure that goes through a public process with rules and conditions. Trash on open land is a slow, steady drag on how a neighborhood feels, and nobody votes on it. If I were a homeowner near that land, I would show up on Oct. 21 with my tower opinion, and I would also file a dumping report this week. Those are two different problems with two different fixes. Neighbors who speak up clearly and specifically tend to get better results on both.

A cell phone tower with antennas against a clear blue sky, similar to the communications tower proposed near Starr Avenue in southwest Las Vegas

What You Can Do

First, put Oct. 21 on your calendar. If you want to speak at the County Commission zoning meeting, plan to be at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, and reference item UC-26-0547-USA. If you cannot go in person, check the county's agenda page ahead of the meeting for ways to submit written comment. Keep your comment short and specific. Say where you live, what you support or oppose, and why.

Second, if you have questions about the project, ask the county directly. The Enterprise Town Advisory Board's county liaison is Tiffany Hesser, reachable at (702) 455-7388 or TLH@ClarkCountyNV.gov. Supporting material for advisory board items can also be requested from the board secretary, Carmen Hayes, at (702) 371-7991, and is available at the Clark County Department of Administrative Services, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, 6th Floor. Asking for the plans is the best way to see what the tower and its equipment would actually look like.

A quick tip on reading county paperwork. Every zoning item has a code at the front. "UC" stands for use permit, "WS" is a waiver of development standards, "ZC" is a zone change, and "TM" is a tentative map. The date and letters at the end of each item tell you where it goes next. "PC" means the Planning Commission, and "BCC" means the Board of County Commissioners. So "10/21/26 BCC" on the tower item tells you the commissioners make the final call that day. Once you know the code, you can look up the item and follow it from start to finish. You can also scan the advisory board agendas every couple of weeks to see what is coming to your part of Enterprise before the mail card ever shows up.

Third, report the dumping. The Bureau of Land Management handles illegal dumping on federal land, according to KTNV. When you report it, include the cross streets, photos, and the date you saw it. Be safe and stay off fenced or posted land. And if your mailbox gets one of those county zoning cards in the future, read it the day it arrives. As this story shows, the clock on your chance to respond can be short.

Open Mojave Desert land with a mountain in the background, like the views residents value in southwest Las Vegas

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | 702-747-5921 | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com