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Nevada
Las Vegas Drafting ''Sustainable Community'' Master Plan for Northwest Development Site
With the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) auction of a 1,600-acre
federal tract some 15 miles northwest of downtown Las Vegas
scheduled for November 2004, the city began work on the site's
master plan, which will require the winning bidder to keep up to
half of the future Kyle Canyon Gateway development as open space,
put housing, schools, parks and jobs within walking distance, and
provide alternative energy for homes and vehicles. ''We've never
done what we're trying to do now, develop a concept of a
sustainable community'' and help Las Vegas ''grow and be dynamic
within our resource constraints,'' said City Manager Doug Selby,
while planning consultant David Rehfeld promised, ''You won't have
a sea of uniform red tile roofs.'' But problems already loom,
reports Las Vegas Review-Journal Michael Squires. Councilman
Michael Mack voiced his constituents' concerns over development im
pact on the nearby wilderness and recreation areas of the Desert
National Wildlife Range and the Toiyabe National Forest. BLM
spokesman Philllip Guerro noted that the city ''may have an idea of
what ought to be built, but developers know what needs to be done
and what profit margin is needed to make it go,'' which requires a
''give-and-take'' approach. Sierra Club Conservation Chairwoman Jane
Feldman pointed out that Kyle Canyon Getaway residents will most
likely commute to Las Vegas, which will clog roads and worsen air
pollution, and that officials should rather focus on vacant land
near the city, since ''(l)eap frog development is not smart growth.''
City Manager Selby responded that the area near the city will be
filling in once the Kyle Canyon Gateway construction starts, and
Councilman Mack added, ''There's no stopping growth. We just need to
be smart about it.'' -- Las Vegas Review-Journal
9/2/2003
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