MASH Village expansion approved

Scott Reeder

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 11:38 a.m.

One of Las Vegas' most prominent homeless providers, MASH Village, is readying to expand.

That doesn't sit too well with officials just across the city line in North Las Vegas. They are concerned that the large homeless population congregating on the city's border is causing problems in nearby parks and hurting the area's image.

Despite these concerns, the Las Vegas Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday night to approve allowing a four-story homeless facility to be built on the MASH Village campus at 1559 N. Main St. The matter will go before the Las Vegas City Council for final consideration Feb. 22.

"I'm not surprised by this vote. Just disappointed," North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said. "This is really something that needs to addressed valley-wide."

Smith has asked the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition to consider this issue when it meets next month. The new group provides advice to cities and Clark County on regional planning issues.

"I also hope that people from the two cities will meet sometime before the City Council decides on this," she said. "This is an issue that really deserves rational discussion."

But Harvey Mandel, vice president of MASH, said no one can deny that there is an enormous need for more homeless facilities in the community.

"We hope to break ground for the new building in June and have it complete by the fall of 2000," he said. The building will cost $8.5 million and is being paid for by private donations.

The four-story, 73,000-square-foot building will house about 280 homeless people, mostly families with children and single women.

"There will not be any single men housed in this facility," Mandel said.

In addition to the living quarters, the shelter also will provide a medical and dental facility to serve the homeless population throughout the area.

"I think it is great that they are going to do this," Tabitha Sweet, a 51-year-old homeless person, said Thursday. "My teeth sometimes hurt and I have no place to go. My husband really needs dentures. I think it has kept him from getting a job.

"A lot of places don't want you working behind the counter if you don't have any teeth. It doesn't look good."

There are about 17,000 homeless people in the community, Ken Robinson, director of MASH, said.

Steve Baxter, planning manager for North Las Vegas, told the commission that the high concentration of homeless shelters in the area posed a problem in part because people using the facilities congregate in area parks.

There are 1,141 permanent shelter beds and 250 temporary beds provided by four shelters in the area.

"We should discuss this on a regional level before they even think about expanding," Smith said. "It's not that we are against the homeless. But we do have some concerns about having homeless shelters so concentrated."

Mandel said if North Las Vegas officials believe this is the case, they should consider building their own shelter. He noted many of the people served by area shelters are from North Las Vegas, because that city has many poor people.

The area of North Las Vegas that is near the shelters is rather rough. Strip joints, pawnshops and an auto scrap yard all are nearby.

Smith said she believes the city of Las Vegas deliberately opted to locate its homeless shelters right next to the North Las Vegas city limits. She noted North Las Vegas residents unhappy about the shelters cannot vote against members of the Las Vegas City Council.

Planning Commission member Leni Skaar said the concentration of shelters does place an unfair burden on North Las Vegas and neighboring West Las Vegas. But she added the decision to make that area a center for homeless services was made 15 years ago.

North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon declined to discuss the matter after learning of the Planning Commission vote.

But Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said some of the concerns expressed about the shelters are unfounded.

"MASH Village does a wonderful job of addressing the causes of homelessness. It goes far beyond just providing people with a place to sleep."

Mandel said the facility will provide shelter to people who are trying to re-enter the workforce and address the problems that led to them becoming homeless.

"Most of the people living in this new facility will be staying there for six months to a year," he said.

Eventually, MASH wants to build two additional apartment buildings on the site that will provide shelter for up to two years. The timeframe for building these structures has not been determined yet.