Editorial: Making property owners pay

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 | 7:31 a.m.

Owners of apartment complexes and mobile home parks may soon be forced to sacrifice financially because local governments have failed over the years to ensure a sufficient amount of lower-cost housing.

The Clark County Commission is considering a proposal that would prevent owners of mobile home parks from converting their properties to other uses. Normally, property owners are free to bring development plans before the county and the plans are approved if they meet zoning and site requirements.

But under the proposal, the county would not consider any land-use changes to mobile home parks for at least 18 months. If the proposal is approved, owners would be limited to the income provided by their land's current use. Sales of the properties would be highly improbable, as potential buyers would want to use the land for other purposes.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas is considering forcing owners of apartment complexes to apply for special-use permits if they want to convert their units into condos. Normally, conversions are denied only if they do not meet city codes. But special-use applications can be denied for any reason.

What is driving such measures? For years local governments have primarily relied on privately run apartment buildings and mobile home parks to supply most of the need for moderately priced and low-priced housing. But now that land has dramatically risen in value, mobile home and apartment properties are steadily being converted into more profitable uses.

This activity is exposing the dearth of government-subsidized housing. Across the country low-cost housing is a local-government responsibility, but here it has been largely ignored. Now owners of apartments and mobile home parks may be forced to sacrifice financially for the sins of elected officials.

Last week, on the same day that the county proposed its 18-month moratorium, it refused to help a nonprofit group take advantage of a federal law. The law authorizes the sale of federal land at below-market price on the condition that a local government be involved and that the land is used for affordable housing. The group wanted to build a mobile home park for low-income seniors.

We believe this type of opportunity is where the housing focus should be for local governments. Federal grants, tax incentives, bond issues -- these are acceptable paths for governments that are serious about developing low-cost housing.