Four more parks in the works

Diana Sahagun

Monday, July 10, 2000 | 9:37 a.m.

Two more park sites are being discussed for North Las Vegas, and the city is hoping to team up with other government agencies for two more.

A 13.8-acre parcel on Coleman Street just south of Craig Road has recently been appraised at $590,000. City parks and recreation staff members hope they can turn it into the city's first new park in two years. In August or September the City Council will decide whether to begin negotiating with the landowners.

The city will also get an appraisal on 15.3 acres at Ann Road and North Fifth Street for another park.

Two other park sites have been identified, and city staff will look into the possibility of teaming with Clark County for land near CVT Gilbert Elementary School, and with the Clark County School District for land west of Fitzgerald Elementary School.

Councilman John Rhodes, though, has expressed concerns over building parks back to back, just blocks away from each other in the northwest. He said the city should try to spread the parks out.

He said the park site being examined at Coleman and Craig Road is just two blocks from Cheyenne High School and one mile from Nick Flores Park and the future recreation center.

"We've been developing many parks in the northwest, and I don't think every neighborhood needs a park," he said.

Mayor Michael Montandon disagreed during Wednesday's City Council meeting, saying that although there are numerous parks close together, not all offer ballfields. Some are only neighborhood parks designed specifically for picnicking.

"With the amount of growth we're having and the number of people, we could have a lot more parks," he said, adding, "... we have to build different kinds of parks."

Another challenge the parks department faces is how to build more parks in the city's older section.

An assessment on developers is the major source of revenue to acquire land for new parks, but the money must remain in the district in which it is generated.

Park District 3, bounded by Decatur Boulevard, Losee Road, Elkhorn Road and Cheyenne Avenue, generates the most money out of six districts. The older parts of town, where growth is stagnant, cannot generate enough money to purchase land for a park.

Montandon said the assessment tax was not intended to be the end-all for construction of parks because not enough money can be generated to fulfill the city's recreation needs.

"The idea is to have other sources of money for other areas," Montandon said. "Right now, we just don't have any."