Park funding policy starting to take hold

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 10:08 a.m.

A tour through aging Las Vegas neighborhoods reveals an obvious trend: Many strip malls linger until they become dilapidated, vacant stores ripe for crime.

But where apartment complexes along Cambridge Street meet older businesses near the intersection of Maryland Parkway and Twain Avenue, Clark County commissioners envisioned greener pastures.

And thanks to a change to the county's park funding policy two years ago, their vision finally came to fruition this month.

Two weeks ago crews began razing an old grocery store at Twain Avenue and Cambridge Street to make space for a 9-acre community park in a neighborhood enveloped by commercial centers, apartments and asphalt.

"This is the fruit of our labor," Commissioner Dario Herrera said. "It's an absolute boost to the community."

In 1999 commissioners agreed to allow funds designated for park construction and renovations to be used to buy land, knock down old buildings and create open space. It ultimately allows the county to provide parks in neighborhoods where vacant land is scarce.

Commissioner Myrna Williams, who helped orchestrate the deal to buy the Twain property from developer Irwin Molasky, said that years ago older neighborhoods -- such as those in her district -- grew before the county thought about parks.

"It's very difficult, especially in this area," Williams said. "No matter what the socio-economic circumstances might be, this is a desirable area and land is very, very limited."

So limited that only 0.3 acres of park space per 1,000 residents exist in Williams' District E, which stretches from the Las Vegas Strip east to Hollywood Boulevard and Charleston Boulevard south to Flamingo Road.

Unlike commissioners whose districts are on the outskirts of development and include open Bureau of Land Management property ideal for parks, Williams and Herrera struggle to meet the county goal of 2.5 park acres per 1,000 residents.

The upcoming project on Twain and Cambridge, which is expected to be finished in about six months, is exactly what the commissioners had in mind when they pursued the new funding policy.

When Molasky decided last year to close down an aging shopping center off Cambridge and open a new Von's superstore on the eastern portion of his parcel -- along Maryland Parkway -- Williams and Herrera capitalized.

Molasky sold his property to the county for about $5 million and agreed to pay for the cost of tearing down the old buildings.

Once the park is completed, nearby residents -- mostly senior citizens and children -- will no longer have to make the 2-mile trek to Winchester Park, the nearest park, Williams said.

Though residents in the area are proponents of more parks, some say the policy isn't without flaws.

Mary Jane Harvey, chairwoman of the Paradise Town Board, questioned whether the county will spend too much money on the land, taking funding away from park amenities.

"The Parks Department doesn't have much funds to start with, so where are you drawing from?" Harvey said. "They go out for assistance all the time."

Clark County Finance Director George Stevens said the money spent to acquire the land came from park bond proceeds of $53 million.

Stevens said property in more mature neighborhoods costs more than rural land in outlying areas, but the number of residents urban parks will serve makes it worthwhile.

"You need to build the parks for people who will get the most use of them," Stevens said. "You probably do have to pay a little bit more of a premium for land, but you're servicing more people."