LOOKING IN ON: SUBURBS

Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

North Las Vegas wants to use some of its growing political clout on a topic that's been blocked by the state Legislature for two sessions.

The North Las Vegas Police Department is about to study the effect that traffic monitoring cameras would have on the valley's drivers. Data from across the country have shown as much as a 50 percent drop in redlight running when cameras are present.

The city will have two cameras starting in January. The locations will be kept secret for six months, after which signs warning drivers about the cameras will be posted for six more months.

During the study, the city cannot use the videotaped evidence to ticket offenders.

Bills to legalize the use of cameras to enforce traffic laws failed in the past two legislative sessions. Many expect this study to be used in a new push during the next session.

The North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce supports the project.

Last month a special Boulder City Council meeting resulted in a long, rambling discussion about how the city communicates with the public and the media.

New council members Travis Chandler and Linda Strickland urged city employees to respond more quickly to residents seeking information and media requesting interviews. City Manager Vicki Mayes then gave a biting critique of area publications.

The council recently gave Mayes suggestions on reaching out to the public. Included was paying for a column in three weekly newspapers in Boulder City. The columns began last week.

The council also asked city staff to increase programming on BCTV, a cable station available in the city, and suggested publishing council members' cell phone numbers.

"In terms of getting information out there and to the people, these were good ideas," Chandler said.

Henderson is updating its development code in the hope of attracting more affordable housing and alternative energy construction to the city while continuing to make master-planned communities pedestrian-friendly.

It's a move that has been hinted at during recent discussions regarding some of the larger projects planned in the city of more than 270,000.

Recently, the planning commission briefly stalled plans for the 2,200-acre Landwell Co. project at Lake Mead Parkway and Boulder Highway to ensure that more workforce housing is included.

The recently opened Inspirada community, which will have 13,500 homes, also negotiated with the city over housing density and park space.

A committee composed of city staff, planning commissioners and homebuilders will meet during the next several months to work on the code changes.

The proposed code update is expected to go before the City Council next year.

The long and contentious debate between Henderson's Sunridge Heights residents and Land W LLC, the owner of about 10 acres of undeveloped land nearby, might finally be over.

Last week the City Council voted against changing the land's zoning and amending the city's land-use plan to allow up to four homes per acre.

In 2005 the city authorized up to two homes per acre. Although the city's land-use plan at the time showed the 10 acres as public land, city officials, saying a map had been marked incorrectly, allowed the change.

The response from angry neighbors produced headlines, a result the city tried to avoid by delaying a proposed second change to give the neighbors and the developer time to reach a compromise. That never happened, however, and now the council has closed the issue by keeping the two - homes-per-acre policy.

One of the most popular guys in Boulder City is leaving town.

Dennis McBride, curator of the Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum, is leaving for a position with the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas.

McBride was involved for years in efforts to preserve some of Boulder City's quaint buildings, some of which date to the 1930s, when workers building Hoover Dam were housed in the city. He was a regular at City Council meetings, known for his honest appraisals of citywide decisions.

His new position will be curator of the state museum's southern division, which includes the dam and Boulder City.