Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Beauty, rights a tough balance

North Las Vegas residents get their chance this week to help shape proposed laws that generally would require residents to keep the outside of their homes looking nice and their broken-down vehicles out of sight.

The proposed laws are part of the city's effort to make neighborhoods look better by attacking so-called community nuisances, such as unkempt lawns, broken windows and junked cars.

The goal is one that all agree is worthy, but the proposed methods have drawn criticism from some. The debate is over exactly how much power the government, in this case the city, should have to tell people what to do with and on individuals' property.

The City Council's vote on the proposed laws has been delayed since early September due largely to Councilwoman Shari Buck, who said the laws could give the city too much power over private property. Buck said that while she too agrees with the laws' intentions, she was concerned the laws would trespass on individuals' rights.

So the council decided to hold up the proposed laws for public debate before approving them.

The first public meeting on the two laws, called the Neighborhood Preservation and the Storage and Repair of Vehicles in Residential Zoning District ordinances, will be conducted at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Council Chambers at North Las Vegas City Hall. A second public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Silver Mesa Recreation Center, 4025 Allen Lane, North Las Vegas.

Mayor Michael Montandon said versions of both laws will be passed, and the meetings will help the council decide whether and how to change some of the specifics in the laws.

"It's critical not to violate anyone's rights, but to do much less would be asking us not to enforce the codes," Montandon said.

The mayor said parts of the proposed ordinances might go too far and need to be removed, such as prohibitions against having cracked paint. He said the proposals will probably be significantly changed in response to comments from the public meetings.

But the mayor said the laws will go through because there are thousands of residents who ask city officials what they are doing to clean up the city.

City officials and concerned residents couldn't pinpoint the exact balance between preserving private property rights and giving the city the tools to keep the city looking nice, but they hope the meetings will produce a compromise.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said many of the proposed rules go too far.

"Some things we have no objection to because they are for health and safety," Lichtenstein said. "But some of the things are purely aesthetic."

He said that when governments try to legislate aesthetics, they tend to infringe upon individuals' rights.

James Sohns, president of a classic-car owners group, the Nevada Car Owners Association, said he doesn't think the city should have any power to penalize someone for leaving a vehicle in a driveway, unless it becomes a health hazard.

But Sohns said the city should at least be able to give written warnings or notices to anyone with an unsightly, broken-down vehicle in a driveway.

"The city can tell them to cover it or get it out of public view. There shouldn't be any fines or penalties," Sohns said.

Under the proposals, violators could could face misdemeanor charges, which carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Bob Borgersen, 65, a retired North Las Vegas resident and community activist who has followed these proposed laws, said he wasn't sure exactly where the line should be drawn either.

"I'm all for having a good-looking city, but not at the expense of our rights," Borgersen said.

"It's good to make people get rid of weeds in your yard. The more attractive the properties in a neighborhood, the more valuable they all are," he said.

Residents would be required to keep the grass in their lawns shorter than 8 inches.

But the proposals also seem to go too far in some cases, Borgersen said.

For example, one of the laws says homes cannot have flaking, chipped or cracked paint.

"You would almost have to have a perfect building," he said. "Now I doubt they would punish people for that, but who knows in the future we could have the paint-chip police."

"Everyone wants it to look nice," he said. "You want the highest standards, but they should be within reason."

Borgerson said the proposed nuisance law pertaining to broken-down vehicles also needs to be tinkered with because the law, as it has been presented, would label a vehicle abandoned after spending 72 hours parked in a driveway.

City officials have said the working draft will be changed to clearly show that the ordinance would apply only to those vehicles with physical problems, such as no tires or doors.

The proposed law would require homeowners to keep broken vehicles out of public view, either in a garage or behind or beside a home.

But Borgersen said it's still difficult to say exactly how the law should be worded so it only works against those leaving trash and junk in front of their homes.

"You've got to get rid of the junk," he said. "But where do you draw the line? I'm not sure."

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