City takes control of northwest BLM land to prepare for transportation projects

Stephen Curran

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005 | 9:51 a.m.

Las Vegas is bracing for future transportation strains, taking ownership this week of almost 246 acres of Bureau of Land Management-owned land years before planners say it will likely be needed.

It's a plan officials say will save the city tens of millions of dollars, as rules allowing local entities to take BLM at no cost mean taxpayers will not be burdened with the cost in the future.

"It gives the city a unique opportunity to plan and provide for future transportation and infrastructure improvements as development continues," Councilman Steven Ross, in whose district the land sits, said in a statement.

Auction values of up to $300,000 an acre mean the 245.5-acre parcel in the northwest area near U.S. 95 and Moccasin Road would otherwise have cost the city almost $74 million, officials said. Development giant Focus Property Group paid roughly half a billion dollars for about 1,700 acres in February for a nearby parcel dubbed the Kyle Canyon Gateway.

It is also expected to save time, as transportation planners will not have to buy or negotiate for necessary rights-of-way before a new project is built, assistant city planner Randy Fultz said Tuesday.

"This way we're getting it before we'd have to buy it back at the prevailing market value," he said.

Planners do not yet have a timetable for when or even what kind of project would take shape on that land, he said. The northwest region is among the region's fastest growing, and city planners expect the need for improved transportation will be most acute there.