Task force reports progress in cleanup of Meadows Village

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

A report by the city of Las Vegas' Meadows Village Task Force shows that some progress has been made in cleaning up the rundown area near the Stratosphere.

"We have been very aggressive in the area of fire services -- smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and (removable) window bars," said Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell, who presented the task force report to the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday.

She noted the cooperation from apartment owners in the decaying neighborhood "was not as good as we would have liked."

She said that 40 orders to immediately comply with fire codes and one criminal citation have been issued -- 27 in the last month. In the last three months, city code enforcement officers have issued 512 notices of safety violations.

Fretwell said the city's denial of business licenses also has lit a fire under a number of apartment owners to make repairs to substandard housing. In the last three months, 12 business licenses have been denied. A landlord cannot operate an apartment complex without a business license, Fretwell said.

Councilman Michael McDonald urged the city staff to remain on top of "slumlords" in the area.

The task force reported that through November, 3,000 man hours were used at a cost of $75,000. That included everything from code enforcement to cleaning alleys and parcels.

Meadows Village, between Oakey Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, and Las Vegas Boulevard and Industrial Road, is composed of 98 percent apartment dwellers -- 57 percent of whom pay $300 to $499 a month. Sixty percent of the residents earn less than $25,000 a year and the median annual income for the neighborhood is about $20,000. Fifty-five percent are Hispanic, Fretwell said.