Las Vegas council briefs for February 7, 2002

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

Grocery store owners in Las Vegas will face fines if they fail to collect shopping carts.

The City Council on Wednesday adopted a bill allowing stores to retrieve carts but also gives the city the option of retrieving them and charging fines for removal and storage.

When the city has to remove the abandoned carts the owner will be required to pay $7.50 per cart recovered and storage fees of $1 per day.

The bill, sponsored by Councilmen Michael McDonald and Michael Mack, will also allow owners to be charged $50 per shopping cart if there are more than three violations in six months.

If a store owner refuses to pay the fines the council may decline to renew, or could suspend, the business license.

Development will await use plan

New development in a portion of the city's northwest will be halted for six months so that planners can develop a land-use plan for the area.

The council has approved a six-month moratorium on new development for the area near Centennial Parkway and Durango Drive.

The area has been pegged as a potential expansion area for the proposed Town Center commercial development.

Deal approved for park design

The Las Vegas City Council approved a $150,500 agreement with Southwick Landscape Architects for the design of a 9-acre baseball and softball complex at the corner of Bonanza and Sandhill roads in eastern Las Vegas.

The development -- on land owned by the city and Clark County School District -- will consist of lighted ballfields, parking, a rest room and concession stand.

Financing plan to be reviewed

The Las Vegas City Council has adopted a resolution allowing city staff to begin reviewing proposed financing for a downtown arena. Financing would include economic development revenue bonds.

The city is considering assisting the Las Vegas Events Center, a nonprofit corporation that will develop the downtown arena, by issuing the bonds.

Staff will bring the financing proposal to the council for final consideration.

Artwork to be used on building

The city's Leisure Services Department was scheduled to unveil a series of large-scale digital murals downtown this morning that will be showcased on the side of the Development Services building at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Gass Avenue.

The digital artworks feature images of Nevada wildflowers created by University of Nevada, Las Vegas artists, Adrianna Valencia and Rebekah Lancer. They are part of a downtown project sponsored by the city's cultural division of the Department of Leisure Services.

The four-month temporary installation is funded by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

A public hearing has been scheduled

at 9 a.m. Feb. 20 at City Hall to address an agreement with Transit Systems Development to install and operate a monorail in the city. Transit Systems Development wants to extend the monorail -- currently under construction in the county into the city.