Planning committee approves growth plan

Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 8:47 a.m.

Members of the Southern Nevada Strategic Planning Authority agreed to send the idea to another committee for further study, with directions to fill in more details. The idea was proposed by Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone.

Malone called the proposal an unprecedented opportunity for local governments to have a voice in how the Bureau of Land Management disposes of more than 25,000 undeveloped acres in the Las Vegas Valley.

"It means having input," he told the authority. "It means telling the BLM 'here's what will work for us and here's what won't work for us.' "

Malone was joined by state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, who agreed to support the idea because it incorporates the BLM's land disposal boundary, which is the core of her so-called ring around the valley proposal.

"I support this approach and proposal because it provides greater accountability for land disposal and growth management," said Titus, D-Las Vegas. "It also empowers the public. These land deals are brought out of the cloakrooms of Washington and into the sunshine of Southern Nevada where they belong."

The 1997 Legislature created the authority after the defeat of Titus' original ring bill. The 21-member board was instructed to study growth in Southern Nevada and report to the 1999 Legislature with possible legislation.

As proposed by Malone, the Las Vegas Valley Public Land Commission would examine any future exchanges or sales of BLM land within a disposal boundary, a line that roughly follows the outer edges of the valley. The panel would forward its findings to the BLM as advice only.

Titus said Monday she plans to take the proposal one step further by introducing legislation in 1999 that would set in law the land commission and its responsibilities. Such a move would prevent future elected officials from tampering with the local agreements.

Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones said she believes Malone's proposal needs the force of state law, even though the plan leaves all control to local governments.

But not everyone on the authority liked the idea.

Tito Tiberti, who runs a Las Vegas construction company, said he knew too little about the idea and resented what he called ambush tactics of its supporters.