Lawmakers reach second milestone

Monday, April 12, 1999 | 10:31 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Legislature passed its second milestone this session, taking the first step in tackling such major issues as managing growth in Southern Nevada and helping homeowners plagued by construction defects.

Friday was the deadline for committees to vote on measures introduced in their respective houses. Most measures passed by the committees will reach their house floors this week, where they must be approved or rejected by April 19.

The first milestone of the session was March 22, when all bills had to be introduced. The deadlines are new this year to ensure that the session ends in 120 days, a limit set by voters in the last election.

The Assembly Government Affairs Committee passed on 8-6 votes two planning bills by Assemblyman Kelly Thomas, D-Las Vegas, designed to make neighborhoods more livable in growing cities like Las Vegas.

Assembly Bill 566 offers a break on impact fees to developers who build more traditional-style neighborhoods such as homes with front porches, parks and nearby stores. Assembly Bill 563 encourages developers to build on vacant land in already developed areas, a concept called "infill" that's designed to fight suburban sprawl.

But the committee rejected Thomas' Assembly Bill 565, which would have required developers to provide park lands.

A package of bills sponsored by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, on the growth problems of Southern Nevada also cleared the Assembly Government Affairs Committee.

Assembly Bill 493 establishes a regional planning coalition in Clark County to develop a 20-year plan on managing the growth. The plan must be completed by March 1, 2001, and must look at such things as air quality, public services, land use, transportation and conservation.

Giunchigliani said her bill mirrors one by Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City, which was approved by the Senate Government Affairs Committee. But it includes deadlines for developing the plan.

Porter's Senate Bill 436 would formalize the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, creating a "network to allow local governments to do their job" in handling the growth issue, Porter said.

The Legislature, he said, has the final say "but we're providing (local governments) the tools to address these problems. But if they choose not to, we will handle them ourselves."

Also in Guinchigliani's growth package passed last week, Assembly Bill 388 would cap the number of changes that can be made on master plans. She said that's "very key to citizens of Clark County who are tired of local governments constantly changing their master plans." The bill would allow no more than four changes a year.

Assembly Bill 306 would require redevelopment agencies to make a public finding of necessity before they begin condemnation of land. It also would encourage negotiations with the land owners before any court action is started. In addition, redevelopment agencies would have to contribute 18 percent for low-income housing, up from the present 15 percent.

The Senate Government Affairs Committee followed suit on growth issues, passing most of the growth-management bills sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, and Porter.

In addition to Porter's bill on the regional planning agency, the committee approved Titus' "Brownfield" bill, Senate Bill 363, which would provide liability protection in the cleanup of environmental hazards.

Earlier it had passed Senate Bill 191, which would require developers to submit a study showing the impact of large projects on such things as traffic, water, sewage services and police and fire services.

The growth package that is being considered by this Legislature, Titus said, is a "real good first step. That doesn't mean I'm satisfied forever. It's a start."

Construction defects

After heated battles over construction defects, representatives of contractors, insurance companies and trial attorneys reached a compromise on Senate Bill 32 that was approved by the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. The bill had originally proposed to shorten the time allowed for homeowners to file suit against contractors over defects in their homes.

James Wadhams of the Southern Nevada Homebuilders and David Pursiano of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association said the proposal now allows "complex cases" involving homeowners associations to go right to court if the contractor refuses to make repairs rather than sending cases to mediation first.

"We have found under the current law that if there are problems, they aren't resolving themselves in the pre-litigation process," Pursiano said. When lawsuits are filed, a special master will be appointed to make sure they do not languish in the court system.

Pursiano and Wadhams said another key element is that the seller of a home must disclose the soil conditions upon which the house is built.

"Here in Northern Nevada it's typically the alkali soil," Wadhams said. "In Southern Nevada it's expansive soil. That's the major source of the problems -- the shifting of the soils."

Mobile home protectionsThe full Assembly late Friday approved 28-12 a bill to give added protection to residents in the more than 450 mobile home parks in Nevada.

A key provision in Assembly Bill 418, which goes to the Senate, gives authority to the state Manufactured Housing Division to adopt regulations on rent increases. It says the regulations "must include an economically reasonable method for calculating periodic increases in rent."