Columnist Susan Snyder: Master plans not always the final word

Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 | 8:35 a.m.

The only guarantee that Las Vegas Valley zoning carries is change.

Residents of northwest Las Vegas have said they had no idea zoning for the land abutting Gilcrease Orchards was changed to accommodate a school they don't want nearby.

Residents of Southern Highlands on Clark County's southwest side are angry to learn a hillside park they say they were promised might instead be more homes.

Residents of Timberlake in Las Vegas' extreme northern end have said plans for apartments nearby will ruin the rural atmosphere and defy the "Beverly Hills" flavor developers promised.

Different battlefields. Same war. Residents can't understand how a county master plan can say one thing while zoning allows construction of something else.

They wonder: What are planners thinking?

So, I asked one. And Chuck Pulsipher, assistant planning manager for Clark County Current Planning, concedes that master plans and zoning categories often conflict.

"A master plan is a blueprint for a community," he said. "Zoning is what is currently allowed as opposed to what a governing body envisions for the future.

"Whether to go in and rezone everything to fit the master plan, that's a decision each jurisdiction has to make."

Master plans for such fast-growing areas as the Las Vegas Valley have a five-year life span. Changing zoning to fit the plan would be chaos, he said. And when it comes to master plan versus existing zoning, the zoning wins.

"We have to allow a permitted use on the property," Pulsipher said.

A developer may use one of the permitted uses to sell homes, but that use might not be the only one encompassed in the existing zoning.

For example, residential zoning that allows single-family homes on half-acre lots might be "the underlying zoning, but it may not be a realistic expectation" in fast-growing areas such as our valley, Pulsipher said. Another use might make better economic sense.

And sweeping growth can make it unrealistic to buy in a new development and expect the rural flavor to remain -- even if that's what the marketing brochure was selling.

So why even bother with a master plan? It takes out some of the guesswork, Pulsipher said.

Consider how zoning decisions could happen without a master plan. Some guy might open a carpet cleaning business next to someone else's starter mansion and swimming pool. No document would exist to tell zoning officials that, generally speaking, residents will work here, live over there and play somewhere in between.

When zoning change proposals arise, a master plan determines which residents receive postcards about the hearing, Pulsipher said. If the zoning conforms to the options in the master plan residents in a 750-foot radius receive postcards. If it's a nonconforming use, the radius is 1,500 feet.

But if the change of use doesn't require a change of zoning, no one has to be notified.

Pulsipher said even residents who heed notices and diligently attend the hearings should expect some change. It's inevitable as an area grows.

"There is no such thing as something being established that you can rely on forever," he said.