City, county at odds on land issues

Erin Neff

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2001 | 2:54 a.m.

A simple sewer hook-up for a new middle school last week almost found itself connected only to an ongoing spat between the city of Las Vegas and Clark County.

The problem had nothing to do with the Clark County School District or the planned Judge Myron E. Leavitt Middle School on Lone Mountain Road.

But Las Vegas City Councilman Larry Brown considered denying the school a connection to the city's sewer anyway because he said the county keeps authorizing development that affects the city without any scrutiny of infrastructure needs.

County Commissioners have made several recent land-use decisions despite appeals by city staff to deny intensive commercial uses. In two examples, the city was the first source developers looked to for sewer services.

The need to provide service to schoolchildren, however, overcame the intergovernmental enmity between city and county policymakers.

"To not allow them to hook on at this stage in the game would cost thousands of kids," Brown said after Wednesday's hesitant but unanimous council vote to grant the sewer connection.

Matthew LaCroix, assistant director of zoning, demographics and realty for the school district, told Brown that there was little it could do to force the county to reconsider imposing a special improvement district along the Buffalo Drive corridor that runs between Lake Mead Boulevard north and Lone Mountain Road. The road is unimproved after Gowan Avenue, with no sidewalks, few traffic signals and sawtooth lanes.

The county originally funded the special improvement district two years ago, but commissioners ultimately voted against the project after some residents protested.

"For the school district to mediate in a relationship, I don't think we're there," LaCroix said. "We will do what we can."

Brown said the commission's decision two years ago killed construction of sidewalks, curbs, flood-improvement projects and traffic signals along the now-booming corridor.

Before last week's council meeting, Brown drove by the Irwin A. & Susan Molasky Junior High School, three blocks from the Leavitt site, only to see paramedics treating a boy who had been hit by a vehicle.

"We are risking safety every day that goes by," Brown said.

Leavitt Middle School, which is needed to reduce double sessions at nearby schools, is already under construction and expected to open in 2002.

But the school does not fit into the city's master plan, in part because of the significant traffic increase it will cause along Buffalo Drive.

"The bottom line is, it's safety," Brown said. "There (are) no sidewalks, and flood control is being put off.

"I don't want people to get the impression that the school district is being put in the middle of a city-county fight," he added. "This neighborhood has taken its fair share of change. The county, the school district and the city have to get our acts together on the front end."

Brown said the county must authorize an improvement district for any infrastructure changes to occur.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman suggested the sewer connection was the city's only leverage in bringing the county to the table to talk about infrastructure improvements.

Brown agreed, but added he couldn't hold up a school on a critical timeline.

"Maybe this Leavitt Middle School is the last of the old way of doing business," Brown said.

During Wednesday's council meeting, an extension of time -- granted to a commercial development on Tenaya Way -- raised the same issue, with Brown calling into question the county's policies.

"I respect (the county's) decision-making process," Brown said. "But sometimes it confuses me."

As an example, he cited a recent commission discussion questioning why the county should provide infrastructure for a city park. But Brown said construction of the park was approved by the county to mitigate another development. But when the developer reneged on the park, the county instead accepted a $50,000 donation to its park fund for an acre worth $250,000, Brown said.

The county has made at least two other recent land-use decisions over the protests of city staff. On Dec. 20 commissioners approved a zone change allowing a 22,000-square-foot shopping center at Cheyenne Avenue and Campbell Road.

Gary Leobold, a city senior planner, told commissioners that the commercial use was too intensive for the residential area. Numerous residents also asked the commission to deny the zone change from residential to commercial.

Last week commissioners approved another controversial project by changing rural zoning to commercial at U.S. 95 and Kyle Canyon Road -- the road that winds its way up Mount Charleston. The vote allows a convenience store, shopping center and gasoline station at the site.

Although Kyle Canyon residents and environmentalists opposed the zone change as inappropriate for the scenic area, Leobold told commissioners the city's concern was that the area is miles away from existing city services -- and it doesn't plan to annex the area and provide services any time soon.

As in the earlier decision, Leobold said annexation -- a step generally taken before sewer services are provided -- should happen only when the area is ready to be fully integrated into the city. But the Kyle Canyon site is almost completely undeveloped.

"That is a problem between the city of Las Vegas and the developer," Commissioner Myrna Williams said.

Leobold's appeal to withhold the zone change irritated Commissioner Erin Kenny, who suggested that the county might provide sewer services to the intersection. The county infrastructure is also miles away.

Ground zero for the city-county dispute is the fast-growing area in the valley's northwest, according to John Schlagel, the county's Comprehensive Planning Department director.

"It stems from the fact that the city of Las Vegas sees that as (its) future area, and (it) wants to have control over the future of that land," he said.

The two governments have worked to build a "seamless" land-use plan for the region, but the county commissioners have overruled that plan in their zoning decisions.

"They regard that as part of their discretion," Schlagel said. The commissioners consider each zoning request on a case-by-case basis, he added.

"That doesn't mean we don't continue to strive to work together on land-use issues," he said.

Both Brown and Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald said they hoped new Commissioner Chip Maxfield will understand the city's frustration and help forge a better relationship between the two entities.

Maxfield said he understands the city's concerns, but realizes there are "long-standing feelings on both sides" that he needs to explore before acting.

"There's no magic solution," Maxfield said. "It's always going to be a problem when you have city-county boundaries."

For that reason, Goodman believes consolidating the governmental entities may be the only solution -- and it's an option he's considering running on if he decides to seek a second term.

"As time would permit," Goodman said. "Right now my plate is pretty full."

Sun reporter Launce Rake contributed to this report.