Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 | 9 a.m.
The Clark County Growth Task Force on Tuesday adopted a list of recommendations for maintaining sustainable water resources and improving air quality in the county, which included pushing for alternative-fuel cars and easing restrictions in planned communities to allow artificial turf.
The task force also discussed -- but did not approve for recommendation -- ways to create more affordable housing in the area, such as encouraging employers and the county to provide housing subsidies to employees.
The task force will deliver the full set of approved recommendations to the Clark County Commission in April.
The task force focused its early discussions Tuesday to adopting a handful of recommendations on improving environmental health in Clark County. The recommendations include improving transportation links to allow for more direct travel and creating incentives to encourage alternative fuel, said Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst with Applied Analysis, a private company conducting studies for the county.
Other recommendations include making drought measures into permanent ordinances and allowing residents in covenant-restricted communities to replace their lawns with artificial turf as a way to reduce water use.
"Besides water, air quality is going to be one of the most important issues facing Clark County," said task force member Gabriel Lither, who founded Summerlin Residents for Responsible Growth.
Lither, who said he recently bought a hybrid vehicle, made his comments during the discussion on creating incentives for people to use alternative fuels such as ethanol.
Besides the health risks associated with poor air quality, air pollution in the county could affect the tourism industry because visitors don't want to go to a smoggy area, Lither said.
Aguero, in his presentation, said that the task force could recommend a vehicle tax exemption or vehicle registration fee exemption for individuals who choose to purchase hybrid vehicles, which run on both gasoline and electricity.
Aguero mentioned, however, that the major hurdle for this program would be "consumer acceptance" and ensuring that any incentives do not greatly affect the budget of the county or state.
The task force also approved a recommendation looking at making drought measures into permanent ordinances. Some of the measures mentioned, such as increased water conservation through turf replacement or golf course watering budgets, has already led to increased water conservation.
From 2002 to 2003, water use in Clark County declined by more than 15 billion gallons even though the population increased substantially, Aguero said.
Task force members also adopted a recommendation that would allow residents in covenant-restricted communities to substitute their original lawns with artificial turf.
Ngai Pindell, who teaches property law at UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law and serves as a task force member, said the original proposal was raised after residents living in covenant-restricted communities who wanted to pursue water conservation by installing artificial turf were prohibited by their home owners association's regulations.
Although the state laws governing home owners associations may not be superceded by a county regulation, UNLV history professor and task force member Hal Rothman said the gesture would be largely "symbolic" and would send the message that covenant-restricted communities could not live by a separate set of standards than the community at large.
While the task force adopted the set of recommendations regarding environmental issues, it did not pass any suggestions for creating affordable and attainable housing in Clark County.
The task force did, however, discuss many of the proposals, such as pursuing a "density bonus program" that would create affordable housing in high-density developments.
The program would allow developers building in an area with density restrictions to build more units above the capped number if they promise to build a certain percentage within a low-cost housing range.
For example, a developer building in an area limited to 30 units could build up to 35 units if they build 10 affordable housing units in that complex, said Kristin Cooper, senior planning analyst with the county.
Another idea discussed was encouraging employers and the county to provide rental subsidies or down-payment assistance for employees as a way to provide low-cost housing assistance and retain workers.
Already, the MGM Grand has a similar program for its employees who work at Primm Valley, an MGM subsidiary. MGM bought the 650-unit complex and provides for the employees at Primm Valley to reside at the complex at greatly reduced rents.
Similar plans were introduced, such as encouraging businesses to provide some form of subsidies to the workers for housing or even travel.
"The county could provide part of the down payment, and the employer could provide matching funds," Cooper said.
The task force will likely adopt recommendations on creating affordable housing at the next task force meeting.
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