Task force on growth to focus most on county

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

Three Clark County commissioners on Monday proposed appointing a group of citizens to recommend strategies for dealing with the region's population boom.

Commissioners Mark James, Rory Reid and Bruce Woodbury told media and a handful of interested observers that the rapid pace of growth in Clark County, which added about 75,000 people and 25,000 homes last year, needs to be addressed.

Woodbury said all the good and bad aspects of that growth need to be examined. The task force, modeled after similar citizens groups that have met over the last decade, will address "growth, its effects and how we want our community to look like in the future."

Woodbury said the negative effects of growth included some poor zoning and planning decisions made by earlier commissions. The commission, which met in its present form for the first time a year ago, overturned some controversial decisions that were pushed through in the final months of 2002.

"We were able to reverse some pretty awful land-use and zoning decisions," he said.

Woodbury promised the new commission will carefully look at the question of growth and adopt policies "no matter how difficult and sensitive they may be."

James had a similar tone.

"The time is now for Clark County to become proactive about our growth and how to manage it," he said. Behind the commissioners, he pointed to maps that showed the county with a population of 273,000 in 1970 blooming to 1.6 million today.

"If our current growth trends continue, we will have 2 million within a decade," he said. Almost every issue in zoning or county business the commission deals with is affected in some way by growth, James said.

Reid, who like James took office a year ago, said the time is now for a serious look at the issue. He warned that ignoring growth is a recipe for problems.

"Change is certain," Reid said. "Progress is not ... This is a time for us to collectively catch our breath, to make sure what we're doing is sustainable.

"At the end of the day, we may be called upon to make some difficult decisions."

The commissioners promised to work with the independent cities of the region, including Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City, through the Regional Planning Coalition. But the county has the largest population base and most land of any of the local governments, they said.

The commissioners gave themselves 30 days to find people to serve on the task force. They said they will suggest people to serve on the committee, take recommendations from staff members, and from the general public.

Ultimately, the group will meet in public to discuss growth issues, they said.

"We all have a tremendous stake in the outcome," Reid said. "We need to be leaders in this process."

The commissioners' proposal has received support from some interests in the community, including environmentalists and neighborhood activists such as Lisa Mayo-DeRiso. Mayo-DeRiso, who attended the news conference, said she believes the move was a "long time coming."

She said the commissioners hit the right note by suggesting that all the issues of rapid growth -- the lack of land and water resources, zoning disputes, infrastructure needs -- have to be examined.

"I like the holistic part of it," Mayo-DeRiso said, quoting from the commissioners. "Maybe now it all comes together."

Although the activist has worked against some controversial zoning measures in the past, she said that she is incorrectly labeled "anti-growth." Mayo-DeRiso said that in the past, growth just hasn't been planned adequately.

"A slower growth rate just seems to make sense," she said. "It's very rare that a community has a chance to do this, to shape their future. So I think this is a great opportunity."

But another observer was not as enthusiastic. Assemblyman Tom Collins, D-North Las Vegas, said he is not a supporter of "managed" or "limited" growth. Collins, who is running against fellow Democrat and Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, said he supports planning for growth but not trying to restrict it.

"If a lot of people are moving here, then we need to build a lot of homes," he said.