Cities, county share growth goals

Wednesday, May 26, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

The Clark County Growth Task Force heard reports from regional governments Tuesday, the latest in what has become a long and dry process of looking at the region's growth and development policies.

Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and the county government told the task force about their policies, procedures and in some cases problems and goals. The task force, which meets monthly, is charged with coming up with strategies to recommend to the Clark County Commission to better manage the region's rapid pace of growth.

The reports from the various governments mirrored the diversity of Southern Nevada.

Boulder City Mayor Robert Ferraro told the board that unlike the urban area around Las Vegas, his city doesn't have a problem with growth. A law passed by the city's voters in 1979 limits the number of new homes to 120 a year.

Ferraro noted that the law has driven up the cost of housing in the city, where most people commute to jobs in Las Vegas. He also said the solution would not work for other communities in Clark County because Boulder City, unlike any other community here, actually owns the land that developers would build on.

Las Vegas is still growing by about 1,400 acres a year, but it also has the oldest parts of the urban area, so redevelopment is a priority, Administrative Services Director Chris Knight told the board.

Sewers in the downtown area date to 1912, he said.

While working to pump up older parts of the city, Las Vegas continues to develop master-planned communities that bring living, work and play together efficiently, Knight said.

Jory Stewart, North Las Vegas planning director, said that her city is still "pro-growth." Like Las Vegas, North Las Vegas has some areas of redevelopment but is in the process of working with developers to bring in 7,500 acres of master-planned community to the city.

Henderson has one advantage that some other communities don't, Community Development Director Mary Kay Peck said. Most of Henderson's growth has occurred with master-planned communities, and the city has required the developers to build the parks, school sites, fire stations and other infrastructure.

That has kept the cost of growth on the developers rather than existing taxpayers, she said.

Clark County may have the most challenging development process of all. Barbara Ginoulias, the county's comprehensive planning director, reviewed the county's existing strategies for stabilizing development, protecting environmentally sensitive land, and making developers pay for growth.

One element of that may need to change, Ginoulias said. Funds the county expected to receive from developers in "fair share" assessments have lagged, she said.

All of the government representatives said they are committed to working cooperatively with their neighboring governments.

In the past three months, the task force has heard a plethora of reports on the existing situation, but has made little progress in defining their goals, objectives and strategies. The task force members, however, said the conversation should begin in earnest next month.

The task force is scheduled to develop goal statements at that meeting, which would be held June 22 at noon in the Winchester Community Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive.