Neighborhood seeks historic label

Judy Odierna

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003 | 11:25 a.m.

The homes near John S. Park Elementary School may not be Mediterranean revival-style mansions, nor are they art deco, but some residents and city officials say the area's claim to fame as one of the city's earliest neighborhoods gives it some value worth keeping.

The Las Vegas Planning Commission, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, will hear a request to designate the area -- between Park Paseo and Franklin Avenue and between Ninth Street and Fifth Place -- as historic. If it approves the plan, the City Council will have a final say.

In addition, the area is being submitted to the National Register of Historic Places for designation.

"I definitely think it merits being historic," said Mella Harmon, the state's National Register coordinator, noting it was one of earliest subdivisions to use federal funding. "Architecturally, it contains ranch-style homes (like those) still popular in our subdivisions."

The neighborhood southeast of Charleston Boulevard and Las Vegas Boulevard South would be the city's first historic district, but what that would mean to residents isn't yet clear.

The proposal before the Planning Commission would only create the district, but it doesn't mention any rules that could be part of the deal. Nor does it address the potential prestige that the historic label could bring.

The designation by the National Register of Historic Places brings plenty of the status, but no protection, Nevada's State Historic Preservation officer Ron James said.

"Private entities demolish historically recognized sites all around the country all the time," James said. "Restriction is always a matter of local choice."

Local governments can choose to place restrictions that govern everything from color to a change in windows. Generally in historic districts, residents must have any changes to their homes approved by a board that oversees the designation.

"This designation would require one additional step for significant changes to the property," Margo Wheeler, the city's planning director, said.

The possibility of tougher restrictions are why some in the neighborhood don't want the designation.

"I'm for property rights," Park Paseo resident Michael Ganson said. "I bought my house for potential investment value, and if I can make a buck on it then that's my right."

Ganson, who said he would support individuals seeking the designation for their own properties, said he has collected more than 65 signatures of people who oppose creating a historic district.

"Most of us don't want a governing body over our properties," Ganson said.

The John S. Park Neighborhood Association has been seeking the designation since August 2000, when it wrote a letter to the city requesting a neighborhood plan be developed. The City Council adopted a five-step action plan.

In addition to the historic designation, the plan asked that city code enforcement officials conduct a property-by-property inspection at least three times during the five-year duration of the plan.

It also asked that the City Council acknowledge the opposition of the neighborhood to any type of commercial expansion that requires the rezoning of a residential property within the boundaries of the neighborhood.

While those who oppose the designation say it will hurt their property values, James says the designation, provided there are local restrictions and state tax incentives, actually gives it a boost.

"It will increase the value of the property," he said, "because it restricts the bad taste of your neighbors."