Residents protest proposed car ordinances

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999 | 10:18 a.m.

North Las Vegas residents turned out at City Hall Wednesday night to oppose an ordinance that would restrict the parking of vehicles on private property. The City Council was set to approve the ordinance, but continued the decision until Dec. 15.

The public hearing was allowed and residents came to the podium one-by-one to tell the council that the measure singled out those on the lower end of the economic scale who live in the mature parts of town.

The proposed ordinance would require a current license plate on vehicles stored or parked in all residential districts, and vehicles would have to be stored on concrete or asphalt. The ordinance also would restrict home-based auto work to minor repairs and require a yearly storage fee of $150 to be submitted to the code enforcement division.

Mayor Michael Montandon told residents that the purpose of the ordinance was to stop people from running repair shops out of their garages and to clean up neighborhoods. But most residents didn't see it that way, saying the council was trying to control what they did with their private property.

James Sohns, president of the Nevada Car Owners Association, said he supported cleaning up the community but believed there should be some flexibility. He added that he shouldn't be penalized for storing a classic car on his property to be rebuilt.

"If you discriminate against the people who don't have the money, you're going to make a lot of criminals out of a lot of people," he said.

Theron Goynes, who served on the North Las Vegas City Council for 18 years, said the bill will help clean up older areas of town that are often littered with broken-down cars.

"In my neighborhood, I'm sick and tired of driving down the street and seeing motors being taken out of cars," he said. "It's just degrading and brings down the neighborhood. Let's rid streets of that junk that's giving homeless people someplace to crawl into in the cold winter night."

Following the public hearing, Montandon admitted that the storage clause of the ordinance had serious problems and needed to be reworked. The motion to continue the decision for two weeks was approved 4-1.

In other action the council introduced an ordinance that would increase fees charged for work permits issued or renewed by the police department.

Fees would rise from $20 to $35 per permit and make the permits valid for five instead of three years. The city will vote on the proposal Dec. 15.