The resident group was ready to speak out against Scherbo's plans again in front of the Planning Commission, but they didn't need to. Scherbo said he was tired of fighting.

"I don't want to continue to fight neighbors who don't realize how good this could be for their community," said the Olympic gold medalist and 10-year Las Vegan. "Their stubbornness is killing us."

The opposition is based on one simple premise: neighbors don't want any commercial business in the residential area.

"This parcel backs right up to the (county Rural Neighborhood Preservation area), and we also have the interlocal agreement working here, which means when (planners) look at the master plan, they adhere to it," Donna Tagliaferri, vice chairwoman of the Lone Mountain CAC, said at the September meeting. "There isn't any commercial west of Tenaya, and that was the plan from the very beginning."

Scherbo, who was requesting a use permit and not a rezoning of the land to commercial, said his gymnastics school is not like other businesses.

"The biggest thing is I want to put my gym where there is a lot residential, so people don't have to drive so far to take their kids," he said. "Commercial is usually far from residential, but my school is not commercial like people think. It's like a YMCA. The money people pay goes to provide the best coaches and equipment. It's for their kids, and so they don't have to drive 40 minutes to get there."

Scherbo said he'll go back to his original plans of expanding his gym at its current location, near Cheyenne Avenue and Jones Boulevard. Maybe in four or five years, he said, if the economy improves, he'll be able to relocate to a larger facility. One of the alternative sites he's considering is near the Providence master planned community, near the Las Vegas Beltway and Hualapai Way.

"I think those neighbors are going to regret this in three or four years when (the area) goes commercial. It will be happening," Scherbo said. "We tried to (find another site) and buy land a little farther north, and the owners don't want to sell because they think they can sell it for commercial uses for millions in a few years."

He may be giving up on this parcel, but Scherbo said he understands residents' concerns.

"Why would I have hard feelings? There's no point. It's not the whole community, just a few families," he said.

Brock Radke writes for the Centennial View. Contact him at bradke@viewnews.com.