Cities on county’s growth study: Been there, done that

Dan Kulin and Sito Negron

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

Leaders in area cities say the growth issues to be addressed by a new Clark County task force will involve the same questions they have considered as their cities have grown over the years.

And while some say that any discussion of such an important issue is worthwhile, others say the work of the task force could be redundant.

The Clark County Commissioners announced Monday a new task force will be created to recommend strategies for dealing with the county's rapid growth.

"It's going to ask the question whether we're properly managing growth," Commissioner Rory Reid said. "Growth is a fact of life here and the question is: Are we managing it right?"

The mayors of Henderson and North Las Vegas, two of the fastest growing cities in America, said their cities have been asking and answering that question for years.

"We study growth all day every day," North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon said. "This city's effort is to not make growth difficult. Growth itself is market-driven."

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said: "There's very little, if anything, that they're talking about that we haven't studied."

Some council members from area cities had similar comments.

North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said: "We're continually going through a version of it, continually rethinking and reviewing growth and its impact."

Henderson City Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said Henderson leaders decided with the start of Green Valley more than 20 years ago to welcome growth of their city.

Cyphers said that over the years the city has worked to manage growth, especially by deciding when to allow the sale of additional Bureau of Land Management property.

Gibson said the city has also worked to ensure the growth will be good for the city by requiring developers set aside land for schools and parks, and build the roads and utilities to their projects. This requirement is now standard for most large developments in the Las Vegas Valley.

Smith said: "Seven years ago if you wanted to do it, anything, you could do it in North Las Vegas."

Now requirements such as those that for park space and front yards, have made for better developments for the city, she said.

As Cyphers explained it: "We have the right to say how they can develop not whether they can develop."

In North Las Vegas, city leaders continue to work to ease growth by streamlining the development plan review process so construction can start sooner.

But Cyphers said the county task force seems to be charged with looking at the same issues as the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition.

"How many times do we reinvent the wheel?" Cyphers said. "We all have different boards looking at the same thing."

Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald also said it's worth asking how this task force would differ from regional planning efforts already in place, like the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition.

Reid said that while the task force might confront some of the same issues as some other groups, the task force will be different than other committees because it will be made up of private citizens and not elected officials.

"We will have developers, labor leaders, gaming leaders, business leaders and neighborhood activists," Reid said.

The Regional Planning Coalition is made up of area elected officials.

But by and large, city leaders said there's no harm that could come from another discussion about growth in the valley.

Henderson City Councilman Steven Kirk said: "It brings attention to a lot of people who move in here and think we're growing out of control and with no planning. But the fact of the matter is there's lots of planning."

Gibson said: "I don't think it's ever a bad idea to do something like this."

Boggs McDonald, who represents an area that

includes parts of fast-growing Summerlin -- virtually a city within a city -- said she's "all ears to hear what's being proposed."

Her area is largely master-planned, with hundreds or even thousands of acres dissected into roads, schools and other public infrastructure before any construction begins. Because of that, she said, a growth discussion would not impact her in terms of specific projects, but it could play a role in developing regional consensus on big issues.

For example, she said, she took part as a Las Vegas resident in a planning coalition in the 1990s that led to heightened awareness of air quality issues in the valley, something that now is at the fore of public debate.

"The more communication you have, often something good will come out of it," Boggs McDonald said. "You can never harm yourself by talking, but the devil is in the details."

Las Vegas City Councilman Michael Mack said the city has done a good job in planning for areas under its control, and said the county's proposal "couldn't hurt."

"In my area particularly, we've been faced with (growth issues) since I served on the Planning Commission," said Mack, who has been on the council since 1999. "I believe the city of Las Vegas has done a fine job in planning ... and coordinating (with the county) so we have cohesive land use plans."

He noted an agreement with the county that forced people to get zoning approval from both entities when seeking annexation. Previously, a person could get zoned in the county, and then through annexation take that zoning with them into the city without seeking council approval.

"What Commissioner (Chip) Maxfield, Councilman (Larry) Brown and I have done with the interlocal agreement is a great step in that direction and should be followed," Mack said.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said: "I'm a great proponent of the discussion of ideas. Ultimately I hope everything goes to the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition."

And, he said, he has a specific hope for the discussion.

"At the back of my mind I'm praying this will lead to consolidation (of the city of Las Vegas and surrounding areas)," Goodman said.

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