County to focus on land-use plan for Enterprise

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.

Clark County is moving to change the second of its long-range land-use plans, with the focus moving to the Enterprise township in southwest Las Vegas.

Clark County planning staff will have an open house Saturday to discuss changes to the long-range plan. The meeting, scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Silverton hotel, Interstate 15 and Blue Diamond Road, is the first of a series intended to get county staffers out to residents, business owners, property owners and developers to review the existing plans and recommend changes to the Clark County Commission.

Among the topics for the Enterprise open house, according to county staff, will be: rural neighborhood preservation, development south of the Strip along Las Vegas Boulevard South, major development projects, the railroad corridor, airport-related development issues and transportation in the township.

This meeting and future meetings will produce a recommendation for a new land-use plan expected by county staff in late spring or early summer 2004.

"This is an opportunity for residents to shape the destiny of Enterprise and its place in the greater Las Vegas Valley," Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said. "Our new ordinance gave us some tools to strengthen the integrity of land use plans. Now we need to get input from residents about how to guide development of South Las Vegas Boulevard and retain viable rural neighborhood preservation areas."

Commissioner Rory Reid reminded residents that they have a stake in the outcome of the process.

"For those who have invested their lives and often a substantial part of their savings in a house or a business, their input regarding future growth is of vital importance," Reid said.

Commissioner Mark James, who is the third to represent part of the area, also urged people to participate.

"This is your chance to have your opinions heard," he said.

The Enterprise planning area, which includes the Strip, is one of two planning areas going through a major update this year. County planners already have begun the monthslong work to update the Spring Valley land-use plan. The townships are adjacent and have experienced a lion's share of the growth in the unincorporated county.

The overhaul of land-use plans comes as part of the county's new emphasis on preserving elements of so-called master plans, an emphasis codified last spring by the new county commission.

Once a new land-use plan is adopted, under the new rules a two-year freeze will limit the board's ability to consider zone-change requests that do not conform to the plan. During that time, only the commissioner who represents the district can bring forward a nonconforming proposal.

When the two-year period ends, applicants for zone changes can only bring forward nonconforming requests four times a year rather than twice a month as the practice is now, the requests must meet a standard of "compelling justification," and must be approved by a two-thirds supermajority of voting commissioners.