Halt to urban deterioration to be studied

Jeff Schweers

Monday, Nov. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

While Clark County's outer edges are growing and prospering, its urban core is rapidly deteriorating, according to a recent study urging the creation of a redevelopment agency.

The County Commission is slated to discuss that and other proposals Tuesday as it tries to combat blight in the unincorporated urban areas.

The $50,000 study by BRW, Avenel Associates and the Americana Commercial Group identified the unincorporated areas most in danger of irreversible urban decay and said creating a redevelopment agency was the best way to stop it.

"This is a preliminary analysis to see if a redevelopment agency is a viable tool for addressing neighborhood revitalization," Administrative Services Director Terry Murphy said.

The city of Las Vegas has a redevelopment agency that has focused primarily on revitalizing the downtown casino corridor.

The study also identified the unincorporated areas most in need of assistance and the resources available to fight blight, including state, federal and local aid.

According to the study, the most blighted areas are a section of Paradise Township east of the Strip with the highest concentration of residents of any neighborhood in the state, and the Commercial Center section of Winchester Township.

The study said the top priority should be the western section of Paradise Township, with large concentrations of apartments, and the section of Paradise east of the Strip.

The study also recommended the section of Whitney Township where the Boulder Highway beautification project ends, and the so-called "Formyle" neighborhood adjoining Boulder Highway, made infamous by a notorious brothel decades ago.

All these declining neighborhoods would benefit from capital improvement programs, women's development centers, job training and creation, the Weed and Seed program, and Community Development Block Grants, the study said.

Redevelopment is part of a three-pronged attack on urban blight that includes neighborhood services and graffiti-abatement programs, Murphy said. These issues also will be discussed at Tuesday's commission meeting.

The commission will receive a report on the creation of a neighborhood services strategy recommended by commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates and Commissioner Erin Kenny to encourage community involvement.

It would be similar in scope to the neighborhood services agency started by the city of Las Vegas to return more public resources to residents, Gates said.

The board also will get an update on the county's program to remove graffiti from block walls and fences along roadways.

"Our goal is to refocus existing resources and utilize them in a different way to benefit the public by giving them more services than we currently provide," Murphy said.

Othe items on Tuesday's agenda:

* A discussion of the county's role in building a monorail system from McCarran International Airport to the Strip, with Aviation Director Bob Broadbent at the helm.

* Introducing an ordinance to include in the Spring Valley Township the portion of the planned 1,300-acre Rhodes Ranch development that is now in the Enterprise Township.

* Voting on an ordinance to outlaw the distribution of adult literature in unsupervised newsracks.