LV prepares rental inspection plan

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

The next public meeting on the proposed North Las Vegas rental inspection program is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at North Las Vegas City Hall.

Las Vegas staff members are preparing a rental inspection program for City Council consideration that could mirror a proposed program for North Las Vegas.

Doug Rankin, a liaison for Las Vegas Councilman Larry Brown who said he is on loan to the city manager's office, said that in light of what has happened with the Sky-Vue mobile home park, some council members are looking for a proactive and not reactive inspection program.

The proposed North Las Vegas rental inspection program, which drew sharp criticism from some of the 35 people attending a public meeting on the program Tuesday night, would charge landlords $50 a year per rental unit and mandate annual inspections.

Rankin, who attended the Tuesday meeting, said it was too early to say exactly what a proposal for Las Vegas would look like. However, he said, the program could be identical to the proposal for North Las Vegas. Rankin said the Las Vegas council would probably be presented with a version of a rental inspection program early next year.

The proposed North Las Vegas rental inspection program was the subject of a Tuesday public meeting that was the first of two such meetings to be held to gauge public reaction to the proposal.

Of the 16 area residents who spoke during the 90-minute meeting, only two spoke in favor of the program.

The criticisms included concerns about the cost of the proposed program, which they said would be passed on to the renters.

One woman said she was troubled because the program seems to "isolate a class of people," and blame the rental properties for the all of the downtrodden neighborhoods.

Others asked why landlords who do take care of their properties would have to go through this program and whether there weren't another way the city could go after landlords who don't take care of their properties.

Some said there are also homeowner-occupied homes in disrepair, and they asked if the city would be inspecting those homes too.

Others said they thought the proposed program was just another way for the city to take more money from taxpayers. City officials said the proposed program would not produce a profit for the city, and revenues from fees would equal expenses for the program.

One man said he felt like the decision has already been made to implement the program.

City Council members did not attend the meeting, which was held at the city's Silver Mesa Recreation Center, but City Manager Gregory Rose, who is recommending the program, was there.

Rose told the crowd that the program, if adopted, would essentially be the cost of doing business in North Las Vegas.

Because renting homes is a business, Rose said, that means the city has a responsibility to make sure those rental units meet a minimum standard.

Robert Evans, president of the Silverwood Ranch Homeowners Association, said a rental inspection program is needed to combat dilapidated properties.

"I want to keep my property value up and not see it go downhill," Evans said.

Rose has said the program would also protect public safety by ensuring safe living conditions, encouraging reinvestment in properties and promoting redevelopment.

Rose and other city staff members at the Tuesday meeting also highlighted an aspect of the program that would give landlords with exceptionally well kept properties a one-year exemption from the fee.

Rose said the program could be presented to the council again in October.