Swap meet gets more time

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, July 13, 2000 | 10:15 a.m.

The owner of Broadacres Swap Meet will have to wait two months before finding out whether he will have another year to fulfill promises he made in 1997 when he expanded a parking lot.

The North Las Vegas Planning Commission, with two new members and a new chairman, continued the request for 60 days after a contentious hearing that aired neighbors' complaints about Jake Bowman's failure to follow through on promises to build a 6-foot wall and put in landscaping.

Bowman had a cordial relationship with neighbors behind the swap meet for more than two decades, but that relationship turned sour after he was granted a zone change in 1997 to build an adjoining parking lot.

City planners said Bowman recently submitted a landscape and irrigation plan, which has been approved. Planners recommended the 60-day delay because Bowman is trying to comply with the city's requirements.

But resident Zane Terry wasn't sure another 60 days would help.

"The longer you give him, the longer he'll take," he said. "Let's get on with it. Enough is enough."

The sticking point for Planning Commissioner Anita Wood was the 6-foot wall required to shield the residents from the noise and traffic from the parking lot.

Bowman had offered to install tall trees to act as a "green barrier" against the parking lot as an alternative. But Wood said trees are not the answer.

"This wall barely goes up to their waist. I find it hard to believe that this is acceptable," she said. She added that trees would take years to grow to a sufficient height to protect neighbors.

Planners noted the wall is 6 feet on the swap meet side, but the neighbors are at a different elevation and the wall doesn't reach the required height on their side.

Bowman agreed to see whether it is possible to extend the wall another 2 feet without tearing the wall down and starting over.

"We'll do whatever it takes," he said. "We want to be good neighbors."