County struggles to set policies on nursing homes

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998 | 11:32 a.m.

Most people agree that senior citizens should be provided comfortable accommodations when they reach an age at which they can no longer live on their own.

But whether living facilities for elderly people should be built in neighborhoods of single-family homes or squeezed into commercial districts has spurred several debates inside the Clark County Commission chambers.

County planners hope to put an end to the squabbling by creating a clearer set of policies to help guide developers and commissioners.

Assisted-living and nursing homes traditionally have been treated as schools are -- they haven't been assigned a particular zone designation and are scattered throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

A recent proposal to build an 85-room assisted-living facility in the Sunrise Manor neighborhood, however, was met with strong opposition and triggered discussions about the differences between institution-like nursing homes and assisted-living businesses.

It also led to a heated debate about where the facilities belong. Commissioners asked planners for assistance in the form of a detailed policy, something the county has never before adopted.

"The time has come," Commissioner Mary Kincaid said. "There are more and more needs for that type of facility, especially with our senior population growing.

"It's a balancing act between the needs of seniors and the needs of the community. And seniors are a big part of our community."

The county has never differentiated between nursing homes, where residents require constant care, and assisted-living homes, in which elderly people need some assistance but are still independent.

"Should the two types of facilities be treated the same? Probably not," said Lesa Coder, assistant director of the county's Comprehensive Planning Department.

"There is a fine line we need to draw, and that will be the greatest challenge in developing an ordinance. It's an emotional topic for the public and the commissioners."

The commission has rejected several recent land-use applications for facilities because neighbors protested and board members had no guidelines to which they could refer.

Developers pitching the 85-room assisted-living home picked the site because it is on a busy street -- Hollywood Boulevard -- but still in a quiet, safe neighborhood.

"I thought the site was a perfect example of where they should be," said attorney Mark Fiorentino, who represented the current owners of the land, the Ulich Family Revocable Living Trust. "There was good access, but it was an area that truly had a residential character to it.

"There is no doubt in our minds and in our clients' minds they belong in residential neighborhoods. They are people that deserve a place to live."

Kincaid said it is important for facilities in neighborhoods to fit in size-wise and architecturally with the surroundings.

That is exactly what the fine-tuned ordinance, which should be introduced in rough form to the board in two months, is expected to do. It probably will be modeled after a city of Las Vegas law.

It would place restrictions on building designs and set-back distances and would require a certain amount of landscape buffer around loading docks and emergency-service access points. Requirements would be different for facilities built in commercial districts.

More specific guidelines would not only help commissioners decide where the facilities will go, but prevent developers from wasting their time drawing plans for unsuitable sites, Coder said.

"It will be something that is more descriptive than what we have today," Coder said. "The industry as a whole is looking for direction."