Columnist Ken McCall: Predicted continued growth in LV spurs debate

Ken McCall

Monday, April 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

FIGURES WERE FLYING around the room.

Market researcher Steve Bottfeld was unveiling his latest survey results, which show -- surprise! -- the county's economy and population growth are still booming.

It was a seminar on "Growth: The New Reality," and the roomful of real estate agents were rapt.

Bottfeld was predicting continued high -- and perhaps accelerating -- in-migration, a "mini-baby boom" and high consumer confidence.

But what is good news for home sales people, I found myself thinking, may not seem such good news to those of us who are coping with the day-to-day results of the "Las Vegas Miracle."

It seemed a lonely thought at the time, though. Especially when Bottfeld's panel of experts took the stage.

The panel included Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, Summerlin President Dan Van Epp and Beazer Homes President Warren Kiggins.

Van Epp, for example, addressed the "growth vs. no-growth" debate.

"It's self-evident," said the Howard Hughes executive, "that the debate should end. Economic growth is fundamental to the economic vitality of a community and certainly to our city."

If you accept that assumption, then the question becomes how to "address and manage the growth." Van Epp suggested formation of a broad-based committee to develop a "vision" for the valley's long-term future.

"We don't create growth," he said. "People simply want to live here."

Kiggins, who moved here only last November, said he's seen no-growth policy in California -- and it's not pretty.

No-growth politics, he said, cause "calamitous" consequences.

"Growth, in my mind, is not the culprit," Kiggins said. "The culprit is no plan or a poor plan or a good plan not followed."

Woodbury, who has been one of the hands at the county plans wheel for 16 years, talked about the problems of dealing with the valley's explosive growth.

"There's no way you can keep up with it," he said. "We face a lot of tough decisions and we can't put them off to another day."

But then Woodbury, who in the past has had the temerity to suggest a moratorium on resort construction, admitted that government's role in managing Nevada's growth is "basically getting out of the way."

As solutions, Woodbury plugged the quarter-cent sales tax for water facilities, a permanent funding solution for schools, and construction of a monorail system.

The subject of a moratorium or even the slightest of taps on the growth brakes never came up.

But something more familiar did: the media.

A "perception of (traffic) congestion" among the public, Woodbury said, is at least partly "media generated."

"There's a perception that the quality of life is slipping away from us."

Not one to leave a hot topic lie, Bottfeld asked the panel how much of the county's growth problems are real and how much are media-driven.

"I think a pretty good portion of it is," Van Epp said. "What we have seen is the media has decided to take on the subject of growth -- not that there aren't issues."

Kiggins remarked that "several days a week we see newspaper articles about the deleterious impacts of growth."

Now I know all these gentlemen are fine, responsible citizens -- even if they do have vested interests to protect. But it seems a tad myopic to be blaming the growing public concern about growth on the media.

It's like blaming the wind on a weathervane.

Do parents have to get their kids up at 4 or 5 a.m. for an early double session because they read it in the newspapers?

Is the crime rate going up because we see it on the evening news?

Are people stuck in traffic because of the radio reports?

Let's face it, unless you're hiding in your bedroom, growth is impossible to miss. If you're out talking to people around town, the subject comes up constantly.

One of the first interviews I did here 18 months ago was with a longtime resident down at the U-Haul place on Decatur. Standing by the congested street, the old-timer was remembering when it was the edge of town and wishing the "city fathers" could get a handle on growth.

Just last week, another younger Las Vegan was remembering when Jones was the western edge and life was better.

"I hate all the growth," she said. "I hate all those homes that all look the same. It's so sad -- I hate it here now. It's ugly."

Sure, some will see this column as just more evidence that the media are out to stir up bad publicity.

But these folks we reporters talk to aren't some media figment. They are real people with strong feelings about where their town is going and how fast it's growing.

There are lots of them out there.

No matter what business you're in, they're hard to ignore.