Guinn: Land prices key to growth

Jennifer Shubinski

Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said Thursday that growth could slow because of the drought and the federal hold on land around the Las Vegas Valley -- which some say has caused land prices to skyrocket.

He said that would be "devastating" to the state.

"If we don't grow and don't get more land released from the federal government to keep (land) prices down, our growth will slow," he said. "If there is no growth like some people want, devastation will set in."

Guinn spoke to a crowd of about 200 developers and industry professionals about challenges to commercial development in the state during a local chapter meeting of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP).

The Bureau of Land Management controls much of the land around the Las Vegas Valley and releases it for development through land auctions a couple times a year. Some critics of the program have said releasing land a little at a time has contributed to the increase in land prices.

When asked by an audience member if he would support some sort of moratorium on growth, Guinn said the price of land has created a defacto moratorium. He said the pressure won't ease until the federal government releases more land.

Some community groups and labor unions have called for limiting growth in the valley as a way to ease demand on the area's water supply and strain on community resources and infrastructure.

"The governor is right on, you can't stop growth and you have to be careful in using government policy to control growth," said John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group LLC and NAIOP member who attended the talk. "Every government control on growth has been an unmitigated disaster."

Restrepo said no-growth equates to economic stagnation.

Guinn also said that the area's drought is a major issue and could act as a restriction to growth in the future. He encouraged developers to conserve water and think of the problem as a regional problem -- not just a local problem.

He also said Nye County's septic tanks need to be done away with and a wastewater treatment plant built before its water is contaminated.

"The water table is very low and it will get contaminated unless something is done," Guinn said. "You can't have that many septic tanks and have that kind of growth. You won't want the water if its contaminated."

The Las Vegas Valley Water District has applied to draw water from several Nevada counties, including Nye County. Nye County officials have filed protests against the application.

Reinforcement by the governor of the seriousness of the drought is important, said Jill Jackson, a NAIOP member and director of program development at architect and engineering firm Leo A. Daly.

"I think that the more people that are leaders in the community that step forward and raise the issue to developers, the more real it becomes," she said. "It's getting the attention of everyone in the community."

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