A steep price for ‘special improvement’

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 | 11:38 a.m.

Henry Morales has a muddy pool of standing water in his front yard.

Keith Berberich has a strip of gravel smothering his well-manicured lawn.

And Shane Roberts has fractured trees and a 3-foot-deep hole on her property.

Each of the Vegas Manor residents paid Clark County a pretty penny for these unique features adorning their property in the housing development near Charleston and Nellis boulevards.

They are three of about 30 people who appeared at Tuesday's County Commission meeting to explain how tired they are of construction crews dumping dirt on their property and blocking their driveways with berms left by graders.

They consider themselves victims of a Special Improvement District set up two years ago after the majority of neighbors voted to share the cost to pave their streets and add curbs, gutters and a traffic light.

Tuesday these residents asked for relief and commissioners, miffed by the neighbors' nightmare, acknowledged that state laws must be changed.

"I would appreciate the consideration of a reduction in assessments," Berberich said. "If they want to come and get their dirt and gravel back, that's fine with me."

Special improvement assessments charged to each property owner are calculated by determining the increased value of the property based on the improvements made to the neighborhood.

Ironically, the law regarding improvement districts says assessments paid by property owners cannot exceed how much the property will benefit.

Roberts will pay the county about $700 in assessment fees every six months for 10 years, but she and her husband never even wanted paved streets. In fact, they moved to Vegas Manor because of the unpaved roads.

Roberts said she had to quit her job to take care of her mother, who is sight-impaired, and the couple is already struggling to pay the bills.

"Our assessments work out to be about $150 a month," she said. "When you're in a one-income household, that's a lot of money."

The county insists the majority of Roberts' neighbors opted for a Special Improvement District, but Roberts isn't convinced. Neither is Commissioner Myrna Williams.

Williams said when residents are mailed questionnaires requesting their vote on a Special Improvement District, they must respond with a "no" if they're against it.

"With the way the law is, something has to be done," Williams said. "If you don't protest, you are counted as a yes."

Berberich said when the vote was taken in 1996, many of the homes around him were vacant. Roberts said that some homeowners live out of state and that those who don't speak English well or are elderly didn't understand the notice.

"The way everything was worded in there, it's pretty much legalese," she said.

Williams agreed that the notices mailed out by the county may be difficult to understand and asked that next time a Special Improvement District is proposed, the language be clear.

"They didn't know how much it would cost them," Williams said. "I think a lot of people look at that notice and say, 'Oh, yeah, my street needs to be done,' and they don't understand what they're getting into."

Williams called Vegas Manor a unique situation and said that because the residents live in an older neighborhood, they're entitled to have their streets surfaced or resurfaced.

Emphasizing she has no intention of setting a precedent, she asked Public Works Director Marty Manning to see whether the county can offer residents some relief by using road maintenance funds to pay for some of the improvement costs.

As far as the sloppy construction work, county commissioners asked the project manager to personally visit the site and see that flooding issues are alleviated and dirt is removed from residents' yards.

Project Manager Jimmy Foster assured board members he would meet with property owners individually and solve the problems.

"Nobody is being abused, misused or neglected," Foster said.