Editorial: Don’t hastily give up land for development

Friday, Jan. 24, 2003 | 4:17 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: Jan. 26, 2003

The Bureau of Land Management owns a 20-acre parcel in the northwest part of the valley, property that the federal agency leased to the city of Las Vegas in 1999. The city obtained the lease for the parcel, which actually is located in unincorporated Clark County, with the plan of one day annexing the land in order to turn it into a park. It was an excellent move, especially since our valley doesn't have nearly enough parks.

But now the city and county are considering a plan to relinquish the land, allowing the BLM to place the 20 acres up for auction in November. Las Vegas City Councilman Larry Brown says there is no way the city or the county could use all that land for open space, so it's time to hand it over for private development. In addition, both city and county officials say that they already have parks in the northwest and that more are planned.

Instead of rushing to give up the land, we believe it should be held for some time, especially now that the county likely in the very near future will update its master plans for development. Residents of the Las Vegas Valley have found that when governments make rash decisions on land-use plans it almost always comes back to haunt them. We don't want to find out a decade later that more open space in the fast-growing northwest was needed after all.