LV City Council panel approves landscape law

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2003 | 9 a.m.

A new bill that would cite apartment complexes that do not have adequate landscaping received the green light from the Las Vegas City Council Recommending Committee on Tuesday.

The committee, made up of Councilmen Lawrence Weekly and Michael Mack, recommended that the City Council approve the bill sponsored by Councilman Michael McDonald.

Multifamily developments within the city are required to maintain landscaping to certain standards. However, older developments approved before the landscape requirements were established in 1997 do not have to meet such standards. Anything beyond one unit is considered to be multifamily.

The new bill will allow the city's code enforcement department to cite developments that do not have adequate landscaping and require them to submit a landscaping plan and then maintain it.

At the meeting, McDonald said they are looking into applying the same bill to all residential housing.

"It will be something that will be proposed," he said. "We're just trying to figure out the best way."

McDonald said the properties that have dirt as opposed to formal landscaping are scattered throughout various areas of the city, and many belong to absentee landlords.