Beautifying rules could save small-lot homes

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | 9:04 a.m.

A North Las Vegas prohibition on so-called small-lot housing developments could end Wednesday if the City Council approves new regulations to improve the aesthetics of the developments.

Proposed requirements include tree-lined streets and other design elements that city officials say will ensure those developments look nice.

The regulations would probably limit where small-lot homes could be built to less than 10 places within the city, the mayor and others said. But the new design requirements could have a broader impact if they serve as a model for other residential zoning classifications, as some city leaders have suggested.

The proposed regulations scheduled for council votes on Wednesday would lift the restriction on new detached single-family homes on lots smaller than 4,500 square feet, which has been in place since Sept. 4.

Although 4,500 square feet is the smallest lot size allowed under regular residential zones in the city, smaller lots were allowed in planned unit developments, a special designations used for specific development plans.

But council members complained no guidelines ensured quality development of lots so small. So in September they put such developments on hold and asked staff to work with developers to come up with new design standards.

"We directed staff to come up with it because we were getting so many requests and we really didn't have any standards," Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said.

The proposed restrictions would allow homes on lots smaller than 4,500 square feet in developments on at least 80 acres. The mayor and others say there are five to 10 places in the city where there is that much vacant land.

In those developments, lots between 2,700 and 3,799 square feet could account for up to 30 percent of homes. The other homes could be built on lots of 3,800 square feet and higher and on cluster lots in which several homes share one driveway.

North Las Vegas' work on small-lot regulations comes as other local jurisdictions deal with the increase in recent years of developments with home lots ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet.

Henderson Community Development Director Mary Kay Peck said her staff is working on possible changes to that city's design requirements for small-lot developments.

North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon said even though the proposed North Las Vegas regulations would allow smaller lots, the overall density of the project would not be allowed to be more than the present-day limit of just under six homes per acre.

If the council decides against allowing homes on lots smaller than 4,500 square feet, "we could have wall-to-wall 4,500 lots," Montandon said. "This way we get some 7,000 and some 8,000 and some small lots."

The proposed restrictions would also require those developments include tree-lined streets, offer porches, courtyards or balconies, and architectural features on all four exterior walls so no blank walls are on the homes.

Shari O'Donnell with developer Signature Homes said the regulations will "make a community more attractive."

To builders, smaller lots typically mean the homes on them are less expensive, she said. But the proposed regulations will also make those developments more expensive, because builders pass along any additional charges to home buyers, she said. She did not know how much more the proposed restrictions would add to the price of a home.

Jennifer Lazovich, an attorney with Kummer Kaempfer Bonner & Renshaw, which represents some of the larger local home builders, said the proposed regulations will help ensure the city gets nice-looking developments.

"This is definitely a step in the right direction" Lazovich said. But Lazovich, who worked with staff on the regulations, said they should also apply to developments on less than 80 acres.

City Manager Kurt Fritsch said the council seems to be inclined to adopting similar design standards for other residential zones.

But not all of the proposed regulations are popular with all council members.

Council members Shari Buck and Robert Eliason have said they are concerned the small-lot developments will turn into neighborhoods full of rentals.

But the mayor said he doubts that will happen.

The council is also scheduled to vote on a related item that would require the payment of a residential construction tax for all planned unit developments, which are exempt now. The proceeds from the tax, which is generally charged to all new construction, are used to pay for parks. PUDs and master-planned communities had typically been exempt because new parks are usually part of such developments.

Fritsch said the park requirements on planned unit developments haven't been providing the parks residents need. The open space has been too small and have not provided fields such as baseball diamonds, which residents seek.

The residential construction tax is a per-home tax based on the square footage of the home and is capped at $1,000 per unit.

Council members have discussed possibly amending the proposed change to the tax to allow for credits for parks developers build.

In other jurisdictions around the Las Vegas Valley, the residential construction tax is generally waived only if a developer builds a park and gives it to the government.

In Henderson, home lots must be at least 6,000 square feet each unless part of a planned unit development, in which case there isn't a technical minimum lot size, but the preferred lot size is 4,000 square feet.

During the first three months of this year, Peck's department saw nine proposed developments that would have a total of 2,511 units under 4,000 square feet.

Department Assistant Director Bristol Ellington said they hope to have new proposed regulations on small-lot developments ready for the City Council by the end of the year.

"We want to make sure we keep getting quality developments," he said. "We're trying to accomplish the same goal."