Assemblyman introduces three bills to manage urban sprawl

Kiley Russell

Wednesday, March 31, 1999 | 9:04 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada's cities need more open space, more parks and old-fashioned neighborhoods, urban planner-turned-lawmaker Kelly Thomas says.

Assemblyman Thomas, D-Las Vegas, wants to encourage developers to slow urban sprawl in Reno and Las Vegas by giving property tax breaks or low-interest loans underwritten by the state for certain kinds of mixed-use developments.

"The reason why we have sprawl is due to land-use practices where land is cheaper at the suburban fringes than it is in the urban center," Thomas said Tuesday, adding that state and local governments must encourage "livable communities and smart growth practices" to keep downtown areas alive.

To that end, Thomas, a former North Las Vegas city planner, offered the Assembly Government Affairs Committee three bills to help cities and counties trying to change the way developers approach downtown construction.

Thomas said all three of his bills will help Nevada qualify for federal development funds. The money is available to states that pass laws encouraging investment in urban centers.

One bill, AB563, would create "smart growth zones" in inner cities and would provide financial and tax incentives for companies to develop there.

Representatives from Washoe and Clark Counties said they liked the bill, but are uneasy with a June 30, 2000, deadline for them to identify all smart growth zones in their jurisdictions. They want the deadline pushed back two years.

Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, said he's not sure the legislation is needed because local governments can currently embark on such projects without state permission.

"There's nothing in here that we can't already do," agreed Mike Harper, special projects manager for Washoe County.

"But sometimes we need a little kick in the butt to tell local governments 'These are the things you can do.' This is a policy statement that this is something important to the state," Harper added.

Another Thomas bill, AB566, would encourage developers to build traditional neighborhoods - with homes and businesses, open space and places for the public to gather that would encourage foot traffic and reduce vehicular traffic.

Supporters say the idea has worked in other states and can work well in Nevada.

"We're looking for a little more variety in our urban areas and I think this will help," Harper said.

Clark County Planning Manager Deborah Murray agreed, but said she is concerned the bill is too restrictive.

"In Clark County we're in the process of looking at land use ordinances and this would certainly encourage neighborhood development. But it would discourage the developers if it locked them into a specific type of housing," she told the committee.

The bill says that houses in these neighborhoods must have a garage in the back and a porch.

The third bill, AB565, is intended to encourage open spaces and parks within developments. It would require a developer who builds a subdivision of 25 or more lots to set aside open space in a centrally located area of the project.

The Assembly hearing followed testimony Monday in the Senate Government Affairs Committee on two bills by Sen. Dina Titus encouraging cooperation on growth issues among local governments and discouraging urban sprawl.

SB393 and SB394 by Titus, D-Las Vegas, ran into opposition from local government officials, who instead said they favored SB436, a regional planning measure from Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City.

Porter's bill would create in Nevada law a Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition to continue with the work begun by the Southern Nevada Strategic Planning Authority in 1997.