Rural preservation districts given official confidence vote

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005 | 9:17 a.m.

A revised ordinance to create rural preservation districts in Las Vegas was applauded by county, state and neighborhood leaders on Tuesday, and sent on to the full City Council with a recommendation to adopt the measure.

The proposed ordinance would create rural districts throughout the city, with the heaviest concentration in the northwest but also some in more central neighborhoods such as Rancho Circle and the Scotch 80s, both near Rancho Drive and Charleston Boulevard.

The measure is expected to give residents another legal tool to fight unwanted zoning changes and new development in those areas designated as rural, and so is expected to help property values in those communities.

The city Recommending Committee, comprised of council members Lois Tarkanian and Steve Ross, heard the matter on Tuesday, and both supported advising the full council to adopt the ordinance, which is expected to go to the council for a final vote on Oct. 5.

Before making their recommendation, the panel heard from Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, former state Sen. Mike Malone, now president of the Northwest Area Residents Association, and residents Linda West Myers and Ed Gobel, who all said they favored the latest version of the ordinance.

Myers and Gobel, who worked with city planners in recent weeks on proposed changes to the original version of the ordinance, said Tuesday they were particularly happy the ordinance would require anyone seeking a land-use change within a rural district to "show good cause" why a change should be allowed.

"We understand things change, but now there must be good cause shown to make that change," Gobel said.

Collins complimented the city for "taking the time to do this for the neighborhoods," and was assured that the proposed city ordinance closely resemble similar measures in place in the other local jurisdictions.

The ordinance would establish rural preservation districts in areas that also met the qualifications for rural preservation areas as outlined in a state 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.

The council could still approve land-use changes within those areas, but the law would give those residents another layer of legal protection from such changes.

Tarkanian and Mayor Oscar Goodman would find their property within a rural district if the ordinance is adopted. However, Chief Deputy City Attorney Val Steed has said that they or any other elected officials with property within a proposed rural district would be allowed to vote on the matter because the ordinance affects more than a single neighborhood.