Council to consider restriction on valets

Thursday, July 3, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday introduced a proposed ordinance that would restrict valet parking at businesses that do not have adequate public parking.

The ordinance was not acted upon, but rather sent to the Recommending Committee of Councilman Lawrence Weekly and Councilwoman Janet Moncrief, where it will get an initial public hearing July 14. The proposal eventually will be reviewed and acted on by the full council at a second public hearing.

The ordinance will not affect existing valet services at large businesses with adequate parking, such as existing casinos.

The measure is designed, city officials say, to make sure businesses with limited parking do not take up a high number of spaces with valet parking and do not leave customers who do not want to valet with just the parking spaces that are far away from the building.

"This may be the first proposed ordinance restricting valet parking in Southern Nevada," said Robert Genzer, director of the city's Planning and Development Department, who on Wednesday celebrated his 30th anniversary as a city employee. "We are at the forefront."

"We have had complaints that people cannot find parking spaces," Genzer said. He said the measure will affect mostly restaurants, hospitals and office buildings that want to institute valet services.

If passed, the ordinance would require businesses that want to start valet services to submit a development plan and receive a conditional use approval. One of the proposed restrictions is that a maximum 20 percent of parking spaces be allowed for valet.

Parking sometimes is a hot issue when development projects come before the planning commission and City Council for approval. While some developers install more parking than the city requires, others come in barely at the required number of spaces.

Residents adjacent to such commercial projects usually express concerns because if there is not enough parking available customers will park in front of their property and add to traffic woes on neighborhood streets.

"Say you have a business that has just 100 spaces, and 50 of them are being used for valet, that leaves people who don't want to use valet having difficulty finding available spaces," Genzer said. "Some people don't like to use valet, even if it is free. For instance, I don't let anyone drive my truck.

"People who don't want to use valet also should be afforded a reasonable amount of parking and convenient parking spaces."

In addition to limiting valet parking spaces, the bill also proposes to require developers to submit to the planning department plans showing where valet spaces will be located.

The bill also would require the applicant to "provide written assurance that the valet parking will be operated to conform with the hours of operation that are proposed and approved for the use."