Regional coalition hopes to play key role in disputes

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 9:48 a.m.

After a year of sometimes sharp inter-governmental feuding, the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition has an important role to play as a peacemaker, its new leader says.

Shari Buck, the North Las Vegas councilwoman who was elected chairwoman of the coalition Thursday, said the group could and should do more on issues such as a proposed agreement between Las Vegas and Clark County that would govern land-use planning and annexation in 33,000 acres of the Las Vegas Valley's northwest.

The Clark County Commission and Las Vegas City Council are scheduled to consider the interlocal government agreement, designed to slow commercial encroachment of residential areas, next week.

"That's really the purpose of this board (the coalition)," Buck said. "To help solve this kind of problem. This is the primary place for both sides to discuss what problems they might be having."

The Nevada Legislature in 1999 required the creation of the 10-person board, which includes representatives from Clark County, the Clark County School District and the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas.

The Legislature's mandate came in response to jurisdictional squabbles and regional challenges posed by the fast pace of population growth -- the fastest for any large city in the nation.

But to the dismay of some, the Legislature's action left the coalition with no real teeth. It serves only as an advisory board to the individual governments throughout the metropolitan region.

Regional issues such as Clark County's regional takeover of air quality management for Southern Nevada or Las Vegas' abortive efforts to annex 80 square miles of federal land in the unincorporated county have divided the coalition in the past year. The coalition itself played no significant role in the outcome of those fights.

Buck, however, said the coalition still can be important.

"Things have smoothed out a lot since the air-quality debate," Buck said.

Even some coalition members who are skeptical of the board believe interlocal agreements are important for smooth regional planning.

Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams, a coalition board member, said she didn't support creation of the coalition in 1999 since it came from legislative fiat. Williams said she also watches carefully to ensure the coalition does not undermine the autonomy of local governments.

She said the area would be better served by interlocal agreements between governments rather than a regional coalition.

Williams is one of three commissioners who have opposed the interlocal agreement between Las Vegas and Clark County on the northwest planning issues. But she supported an agreement two years ago between Henderson and Clark County that set consistent development standards for the area where the two jurisdictions border.