News briefs

Thursday, Oct. 7, 1999 | 11:42 a.m.

Parking bonds will help expansion

The expansion of Las Vegas City Hall took another step toward reality Wednesday when the council authorized staff to issue $10 million in bonds.

The general obligation limited tax parking bonds will finance the first phase of the planned expansion. The first phase includes constructing a 600-space parking garage and 30,000-square-feet of office space across Stewart Avenue from City Hall.

The bond also includes funding for another parking project to serve the new federal courthouse and the planned Regional Justice Center.

Zoning change proposed by mayor

Efforts to create an arts district in downtown Las Vegas will soon get some needed zoning help.

Mayor Oscar Goodman introduced a bill Wednesday that will allow residential units to be approved above or adjacent to nonresidential units in certain office and commercial zones. A special use permit would be required.

The proposal limits the so-called "live-work" zoning to the downtown redevelopment area as an incentive to encourage revitalization of older areas.

Goodman said he got the idea for that type of zoning from recent visits to San Diego and San Francisco. Artists in many cities live in lofts above galleries or use their living quarters as studios.

The current zoning code prohibits that in Las Vegas.

A public hearing on the bill will be held Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. in the eighth floor conference room in City Hall.

Land to be bought on MLK for station

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved negotiations for the purchase of land on Martin Luther King Boulevard at Bannie Avenue for a proposed fire station.

The council authorized city staff to offer $310,000 to $340,000 for the two separate parcels at that location.

The council will still have to vote on the final contract.

Bill would give engineer control

A proposal to grant the city traffic engineer the ability to set time limits and rates on parking was introduced Wednesday.

The bill gives the engineer the flexibility to change time limits and rates applicable to metered parking and parking in city-owned lots. Currently, the Municipal Code sets the days and hours of operation for parking meters.

Mike Sheldon, the city's Director of Detention and Enforcement, sponsored the bill. It faces a public hearing Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. before the council's Recommending Committee.

Speeder winds up arrested in slaying

A morning speeding stop by Metro Police lead detectives Wednesday to a possible murder scene in East Las Vegas.

Police stopped Fernando Hernandez, 36, for speeding on U.S. 95 north of Searchlight about 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Hernandez, who had his 3-year-old daughter in the car, made statements to the officers that caused them concern for the welfare of his ex-wife, police said.

Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen would not comment further about Hernandez's statements.

Police were sent to the ex-wife's residence in the 2400 block of Swifton Court, off East Sahara Avenue and U.S. 95.

Hernandez's 38-year-old ex-wife was found dead on the staircase with injuries to her head, Petersen said.

"We haven't yet determined how she was killed, but a knife was found at the scene," Petersen said.

Hernandez was booked into the Clark County Detention Center for murder with a deadly weapon.

Proposal tabled

Casino plan off I-215 delayed

Clark County Commissioners tabled approval Wednesday evening of a casino proposed for a planned shopping mall at Flamingo Road and Grand Canyon Drive.

The 300-room, eight-story hotel-casino would be built in the heart of planned 100-acre shopping mall off the Interstate-215 beltway by Triple Five Nevada Development Corp. Triple Five Nevada is owned by the Ghermezian family, a Canadian family that developed the West Edmonton Mall -- the world's largest -- and the Mall of America in Minneapolis -- the largest mall in the United States.

The commissioners said they would consider the plan again at 1 p.m. Nov. 17.

The Clark County Planning Commission approved a zoning change to allow the casino at its Sept. 9 meeting.