Rural preservation issue going back before council

Dan Kulin

Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 | 10:08 a.m.

A proposal to designate rural preservation districts in neighborhoods scattered throughout Las Vegas -- including the upscale Scotch 80s and Rancho Circle communities -- will head back to the City Council this week and could go for a final council vote on Oct. 5.

The rural preservation districts, if established by the council, would not insulate the neighborhoods from new development, but the designated communities would have another layer of protection from change. Residents would have another legal argument to use when fighting proposed changes to those districts.

City Planning and Development Department staff are expected to offer several amendments to bolster and clarify the proposed ordinance when it goes before the city Recommending Committee on Tuesday.

Tom Perrigo, city planning manager, said he plans to suggest amendments that would require those seeking land-use changes in the preservation districts show "good cause" for why a change should be made; to establish rules for buffer areas around rural districts; and possibly change an exemption regarding proximity to major roads so more land would be protected.

Perrigo said Thursday he was still working on exactly what his proposed amendments will look like, for example, whether the buffer areas would have housing density restrictions.

Las Vegas resident Ed Gobel, typically an outspoken advocate on veterans and handicapped accessibility issues, was one of the residents who took an intense interest in this issue, prompting the city's Recommending Committee to postpone acting on it last month.

Gobel said he is pleased with the expected amendments to the proposed ordinance, especially the proposal to require good cause is shown before land-use changes are made.

"This will give the residents something to fall back on, another tool to fight with," Gobel said.

Gobel was also hopeful the accepted amendments will include one that affects property near major roads. The proposed ordinance would not seek to protect property along streets, or planned streets, at least 99-feet wide. One amendment being considered would widen that exemption to 119 feet.

If accepted, major streets such as Craig Road would still fall under the exemption, but smaller roads such as Alexander Road would not, Gobel said.

From the Recommending Committee, which is made up of council members Lois Tarkanian and Steve Wolfson, the proposed ordinance will be read into the record during the Wednesday council meeting, and then will probably be on the next council meeting agenda for final approval, Planning and Development Director Margo Wheeler said.

The proposed rural preservation districts dot the city map, with the largest concentration in the rapidly developing northwest part of the city. But some of the districts are within older city neighborhoods that are closer to the center of the city and which lost their rural feel years ago, including the neighborhoods that have Mayor Oscar Goodman and Tarkanian as residents.

Perrigo said the neighborhoods were identified based on whether they met the qualifications as outlined in a state rural preservation law in effect from 1999 to May 2004. Under those rules, a rural district was made up of at least 10 homes where there are no more than two homes per acre.

Some have said the designation could help boost property values for homes within the rural preservation districts.

Chief Deputy City Attorney Val Steed has said any elected officials with property within a proposed rural district would be allowed to vote on the matter because the ordinance would affect more than a single neighborhood.