Editorial: Give housing plan a chance to take hold

Monday, Feb. 2, 2004 | 8:48 a.m.

At last year's land auction by the Bureau of Land Management, 1,940 acres of prime real estate nominated for sale by the city of Henderson went unsold. It wasn't the price that turned off developers for this parcel south of the Henderson Executive Airport. At $128,865 an acre, it was a bargain considering that developable land in the Las Vegas Valley sells for $300,000 an acre or even more.

No, the problem centered on the conditions that Henderson attached to the sale. The city, looking out for its residents' quality of life, insisted that 10 percent of the homes built on the land would have to be affordable for people of moderate means. Henderson also required that land for parks, fire stations and schools be set aside in amounts proportionate to the population of the new community. In our view, this was simply good planning, the type that should have been in place throughout the Las Vegas Valley beginning at least 20 years ago. Requirements for proportionate infrastructure and reasonably priced housing are serious quality of life issues that should be required by all local governments.

Unfortunately, the city of Henderson has decided to drop its requirement for 10 percent of the homes to be affordable for average wage earners -- teachers, firefighters and nurses would fit in this category. This same parcel will go on the auction block again on June 2. While the other requirements will remain, developers will be under no restrictions when it comes to pricing their homes. We believe Henderson should have stuck with its requirement. Known nationally as "inclusionary zoning," such requirements ensure that the people who make our communities go can afford to live in them. We'd like to see it take hold here, but it never will if local governments back off the first time they run into resistance.