Many thoughts emerge on smart growth

Friday, March 17, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

The first day of a three-day conference on growth and development brought people together Thursday to the UNLV campus -- but also illustrated how far apart many are when it comes to land-use planning nationally and in the Las Vegas Valley.

The Smart Growth -- Smart Solutions conference gathered together developers, government land-use planners, academic experts and a handful of environmentalists. The panel discussions focused on the importance of open communication and dialogue among all "stakeholders" in land-use decisions.

But beneath the surface, the conference participants also exposed the great gaps that exist in defining "smart growth" -- particularly for Southern Nevada.

Felicia Marcus, Environmental Protection Agency administrator for the agency's Region 9, foreshadowed the polite disagreements that would come up at the conference. She said many communities had spent time and financial resources in debates over the very meaning of the term.

"'Smart growth' is some acknowledgement that growth will occur and that communities have choices," she said.

But the choices that govern how growth will occur were at the heart of the divide between developers, real estate interests and the public and nonprofit planning experts at the meeting.

Stuart Meck, principal investigator for the American Planning Association, held up Portland, Ore., as a model for good urban planning. The metropolitan area has had a firm boundary restricting urban development for a decade, a strong mass transit system and comfortable neighborhoods.

But Marty Irving, chief executive officer of the Fairfax, Va.-based Irving Group, said the Portland model was far from perfect. Irving's company provides commercial property advice.

People in that area pay high housing prices, he noted. Irving compared Portland to Los Angeles, which grew over the last century without hard development restrictions.

Housing densities are greater and the number of vehicle miles traveled per person are lower in the California city, Irving said, referring to a recent newspaper column.

Irving and others with the private sector stressed that smart-growth initiatives and development have to be market-driven -- that the buyers will ultimately decide what kind of homes to live in, and how far they will live from the urban core.

But others, including Meck, said more can be done by governments to steer development towards the kind of urban, mixed use, higher density development generally considered "smart."

Nationally and locally, not everyone is quite as sold on the concept of smart growth as those attending the conference.

An article in the latest newsletter of Las Vegas' Associated General Contractors criticizes campaigns against urban sprawl and for smart growth as "misguided."

And alarmed by the growing national backlash against urban sprawl, the 750,000-member National Association of Realtors on Thursday announced a lobbying campaign to head off governmental policies that would limit growth.

Most people at the conference at least embraced the concept of smart growth. Speakers said the basic elements of the concept -- higher densities, mixed commercial and residential uses within neighborhoods, pedestrian-friendly streets, ample parks and amenities -- could work for developers, cities and residents.

And those attending all seemed to agree that the same development issues sparking sometimes heated controversy locally also are making waves nationally.

"We need to learn how to manage growth responsibly," Irving said at the conference's first panel discussion. "We need to embrace everyone in the conversation."

But a few minutes later, Sam Pierce, chairman of the local Sierra Club's subcommittee on growth, said he felt excluded from the planning and organization of the conference.

He said the local group, which recently co-produced a study on smart growth based on town hall-style meetings around the valley, should have been included.

While Pierce asked how his organization could play an organized role in the discussions, Gov. Kenny Guinn quietly slipped into the back of the roomful of several hundred people attending the conference.

Guinn said later that he came to indicate how important the issues surrounding land use are to him and his administration -- "to show that I am concerned and willing to listen."

Land-use decisions have a tremendous impact on neighborhoods, he said.

"I think elected officials have to be very careful making changes to master plans," Guinn said. "That's what gets us into trouble."

Guinn acknowledged that land-use issues are likely to be a focus of activity for the Nevada Legislature next year. State Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, and other legislators from the valley have said they may once again put forward legislation to strengthen regional planning and restrict some kinds of development.

Clark County has been rocked by several controversial land-use decisions recently, among them the denial of an application to build a large Wal-Mart and approvals to build a Home Depot, 300-room hotel-casino and police union hall in areas where they weren't planned or zoned.

Despite the controversies, Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera said the county does a good job of balancing land-use issues, welcoming "innovative, mixed-use development" such as the master-planned community in Summerlin.

"By and large, the county does a very good job of master planning," he said during an afternoon panel.

Those attending the first two days of the conference are mostly professionals or activists. On Saturday, however, the conference will be open to the public.

About a dozen government agencies, environmental groups and developers will display their views on smart growth on UNLV's academic mall, next to the Moyer Student Union.

"If people are to see what this valley will look like, environmentally and economically, with 2 million people, they should come to the university on Saturday," said Kathy Laukner, a UNLV program director who organized the community fair portion of the conference.

The conference is hosted by the national nonprofit Urban Land Institute and cosponsored by the American Planning Association, the Bank of America, Howard Hughes Corp., private land-use consultants and Clark County, the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson, and regional government agencies.

Launce Rake covers growth issues for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4127 or by e-mail at lrake@lasvegassun.com