By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Published August 6, 2008
MVTAB Balks At Density Increase Proposal In Little Moapa Project Little Moapa Development group agreed to go back to the drawing board to adjust a new map that they proposed on July 30 at the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board (MVTAB) meeting. The main issue for MVTAB members was an increase in density. The new map proposed to drastically increase the number of lots on the small portion of the 121 acre project consisting of 32 acres just south of Navajo Ave along the Moapa Valley Blvd.
Little Moapa partner, Steve Geiger, told the board that the developer would need additional density to pay the increased costs that have been added to it. Geiger explained that the project was originally approved three years ago with a total of 134 lots on 121 acres. Also approved at that time was a package sewage treatment plant.
“Since that time, though, we have seen our costs skyrocket,” Geiger said. “Costs associated with the project have increased by over $5 million. At the same time, the market has retreated.”
Development of the Little Moapa site will require significant flood control infrastructure. The project will require a $2.5 million regional flood control basin to be built, Geiger said. “The basin will solve flood control issues for not just our property but for a lot of other contiguous properties,” Geiger said. Also required is a channel carrying flood waters through the property costing another $1 million. “Basically, we cannot do this project unless we participate in these things being built,” Geiger said.
In addition, package treatment plants like the one originally approved for this project have fallen out of favor in the community. Instead, developers are being required to participate in the community-wide sewer system. That adds another $1.2 million to the project, Geiger said.
“The question has been how to deal with these costs,” Geiger said. “Most of the other development projects are dying out for a lot of different reasons. We are trying to avoid that. We believe that if we can find a way to deal with the costs, that we have the opportunity still to afford this.”
The answer being proposed was to increase density in the project. Geiger explained that the group would still keep the overall densities at around 2 units per acre. Large lots (1/2 acre to 2 acre lots) would be retained on the area west of the railroad tracks. Lots in the area just west of the old Indian Hills development would stay at ½ acre in size. But to meet the added expenses, the project would push densities higher in the 32 acre field just south of Navajo Ave. There the developer was proposing 142 lots of between 6,000 and 8,000 sq ft. The earlier plans had proposed only 46 lots in that area.
MVTAB members expressed understanding that the developer had to adjust for higher costs. But most of them felt that the densities being proposed were higher than necessary. “I agree that you need some relief [from these costs],” said MVTAB member Guy Doty. “I’d like to see the county involved in the funding of this regional facility. Since it is of general public interest and not just this development, they should have a greater share in the participation. But, that said, I think that the densities are too high to be compatible with the surrounding areas.”
Doty claimed that when acreage for streets and infrastructure were removed from the calculation, the lot sizes being proposed came out to a net density of about 8 units per acre in that area.
MVTAB Chairwoman, Judy Metz agreed. “I’d really like to see a project started somewhere,” Metz said. “But, when I saw that map, I just said, no this is just too much!”
“I’d be more comfortable if you buffered the higher density area to match at least what is existing adjacent to it,” said MVTAB member Rik Eide. That would mean that the lots along the north part of the parcel would be 1/3 acre lots to match lots along Navajo and that lots along Moapa Valley Blvd. would be ½ acre lots to match those across the street, and smaller lots would go on the interior of the property. “The density should be consistent,” Eide said. “We owe it to the neighbors adjoining the project to buffer the lots, I think.”
MVTAB member Jay Young, on the other hand, said that he welcomed the increased densities. “My honest feeling is that I am okay with the density just as it is,” he said. “My thought is that 1800 sq foot homes on 6,000 sq foot lots are good starter homes. We need that in this community for young families.”
Geiger expressed a willingness to work with the community to come to a solution that everyone could live with. “We want to understand your concerns and try to accommodate them to come up with something that makes sense,” he said.
The majority of the board expressed support for the buffering idea. This included ½ acre lots along Moapa Valley Blvd., 1/3 acre lots on the north side of the property and an average of 8500 sq ft per acre on the lots in the interior.
Board members toyed with the idea of making a motion with these conditions attached. But they worried that the added complication of the conditions might not be heeded at the county level. The board asked Geiger if he would be willing to put a hold on the item, make the requested changes to the map and return with the adjustments on August 13 at the next board meeting.
Geiger agreed to this but also asked about the long list of other waivers that had been requested in the item. Many of these waivers were conditions which had been set on the project dealing with the package plant which was now not being built. Other waivers dealt with minimum home size, reduced setbacks and conditions regarding sufficient school facilities to accommodate the added population. “When the map comes back with these density issues fixed and with reasonable adjustments, those other conditions will go right away as far as I’m concerned,” said Eide.
