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Apt. FHA Bad News Brought By High Official The Federal Housing Ad­ministration yesterday turn­ed thumbs down on more than $3'2 millions in apart­ment house projects planned •near trie Desert Inn. Investors learner! the b a d news at a conference here yes­terday morning at the city hall called by grate and national F H A official]s to which some 20 representatives o f city, coun­ty. planning groups, North Las Vegas. Las Vegas Valley W ater district, and the County Sanita­tion district had been summon­ed along with interested bank­ers and realtors. Pete Walters, Nevada F H A director, and Henry M, Day. as­sistant commissioner for field operations from Washington, said the two applications were turned down because F H A poli­cy officials felt 35-year m ort­gages would not w ork In this area. j W alters said the. decision was made after a thorough analysis o f area problems by F H A plan­ners and experts in the W ash­ington office. Rejected were the applica­tions o f Lloyd Martin of Seattle fo r a 150-unit apartment house on Desert road opposite t h e Desert Inn golf course, and that o f Milton Gordon who had pre­sented plans to construct a 300- unit apartment on the Desert Inn Country Club estates. Gordon last night told The Sun be was '‘completely flabbergasted” by the action. Gordon said he had been assured bv FHA Commissioner Norman Mason that the decision would be left up to Walters, the local FHA authority. Then, he said. Day was sent here to “ bypass” Walters' affirmative decision. “ Actions of this type by Mason can do a considerable harm,” he said, "by destroying the confidence of the builder in the FHA. He has done a lot of harm already.” The builder said Mason told him “ unofficially” that the ruling re­sulted from an FHA opinion that the area involved has been im­properly planned by county of­ficials. The projects were to have cost $1,200,000 and $2,400,000 respectively. Commissioner Day re-affirm ­ed the F H A policy does not a f­fect single fam ily financing, and also pointed out that it does not mean multiple unit projects are banned entirely be­cause the F H A recently approv­ed a 104-unit apartment house planned for Maryland Parkway. He indicated that F H A o ffi­cials would reconsider the two huge apartment projects if th ey could be set up to be repaid in less than 35 years, and if zon­ing and land planning condi­tions are feasible. Commissioner Day revealed that he has resigned his FH A position and w ill return to his form er job with the Atlantis Improvement company in Salt Lake City. Am ong those present were George Albright, chairman of the Board o f County Commis­sioners; Murray Hoyt, County Planning Commission chair­man; A1 Clemens, County Sani­tation district chairman; W il­liam Renshaw, Las Vegas Val­ley W ater district chief engi­neer; Ed Fountain and Harris Sharp, city commissioners; Franklin Bills, city, planning engineer; Lauren Gibbs, ffscal agent; M. M. Sweeney, Pioneer Title and Trust company; Doro­thy Porter, mayor o f North Las Vegas; Charles Collins, Las Ve­gas Board o f Realtors presi­dent; James H. Down, realtor; and Carston Bronken and T y Tyson,- engineers. #008-D