Housing project for seniors gets no help from county

J. Craig Anderson

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006 | 7:50 a.m.

Gerald Ernst doesn't understand why Clark County is trying to protect mobile home parks but won't help his nonprofit organization build a new one.

A dozen trailer parks have closed in the county in the last year to make way for high-rise condos and other developments. The closures forced poor and elderly mobile homeowners to search for other inexpensive housing that is in increasingly short supply in the county.

The Clark County Commission is keenly aware of the problem. On Wednesday, it proposed an 18-month moratorium on trailer park closures. But that same day, Ernst said, county staff told him he should give up on asking the county to help him with plans to build a 160-acre mobile home park for seniors on Bureau of Land Management property.

"The county has told us, in no way will they help us," said Ernst, president of nonprofit group Village Seniors Ltd. and a retired building contractor.

County officials confirmed that they will not help with the paper shuffle required for Ernst to acquire the federal land. But they said that they do not rule out working with him in the future, after they have developed a new system for building affordable housing on federal land.

Lisa Coder, director of operations for the county's Redevelopment Agency, said the county is working on three housing projects. The first is a proposed apartment complex for seniors on 5 acres northeast of Harmon Avenue and Jones Boulevard.

Under existing rules, a government entity must act as the middleman on any plans to develop BLM land. County officials would like to cut themselves out of the process and allow developers to deal directly with the federal agency.

One goal of the seniors apartment proposal is to determine whether the new system works, Coder said. It also could determine whether developers are willing to build affordable housing on federal land under conditions set by BLM.

The deadline for bids on the first project is 5 p.m. today, she said. As of late Thursday, the county had yet to receive a single bid.

In the meantime, she said, Ernst just needs to be patient. "I'm certain at some point in time we will be looking at a mobile home park project," Coder said.

Ernst and Village Seniors Vice President Leroy Anderson -- both in their 70s -- have been working on a plan that they say would help alleviate Clark County's affordable housing jam.

The two residents of Tropicana Palms mobile home park, 6420 E. Tropicana Ave., would like to build a mobile home park for seniors on fixed incomes. Since it would be a nonprofit enterprise, Ernst said he believes prices could run as low as $37,000 for a 1,000-square-foot home.

Ernst and Anderson said they were hopeful in December when County Commission Chairman Rory Reid met with them and even offered to enlist the help of his father; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Ernst said Harry Reid agreed to attach a rider to a Senate bill that would allow the county to purchase about 160 acres of undeveloped BLM land south of Nellis Air Force Base for use as a senior mobile home park.

However, Nellis officials objected because they want to maintain a buffer between development and a nearby airfield where bombs and other weapons are loaded and unloaded.

Base spokesman Mike Estrada said the location also would cause problems for park residents because mobile homes do not have adequate sound insulation to keep out airplane noise.

"I would definitely not want to live in a mobile home that close to Nellis," Estrada said.

Ernst said he understands the Air Force's position but is disappointed county officials won't help him identify another site.

"The county has made a decision that they don't want any more mobile home parks," he said.

Not true, according to Coder, but the county wants to focus on affordable apartments and site-built homes first.

"There is a place for mobile homes in Clark County's future," she said.

J. Craig Anderson can be reached at 259-2320 or at craig@lasvegassun.com.