TABs Vote On Changes To Land Use Plan

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

The two local Town Advisory Boards provided final feedback on the Clark County Land Use Plan process during meetings held on February 26 and 27.

The board actions were a culmination of a series of public workshops which have been held over the past year in Overton, Logandale and Moapa. County staff had come to each of the communities several times throughout the year to gather input from local residents on land use designations. They also collected proposals for possible changes to designations from property owners.

“The changes considered here this evening are not a zone change request,” clarified county planner Kevin Smedley in an opening presentation at both board meetings.

“These are only a change to land use designations. It could allow for a future non-conforming zone change request in the future. But this only paves the way for that. Property owners would have to come back to the board to request a zone change.”

Despite this explanation, a couple of the proposed changes had neighbors and community members viewing proposed changes at least as seriously as they would a zone change.

In Moapa on Feb. 26, property owner Susan Pulsipher had requested a change on a ten acre parcel located at the northwest corner of Lawson Drive and Barlow Ave. Her request would have changed the designation from a two acre lot density to possibly allowing for half-acre lots.

Pulsipher explained that there may come a time when she wants to subdivide the property and sell smaller lots. She recognized that she would have to seek a zone change should that time ever come.

But landowners in the neighborhood spoke out strongly against the proposed change. They argued that there was already an established community surrounding the parcel which included much lower density at two acre lots. The proposed change would not fit within what was already there and would not be in keeping with the rural lifestyle of the existing community, they said.

Moapa TAB members agreed with these concerns. “I’m looking at how many neighbors are here tonight opposing this,” said board member Lyn Wren. “I’m not opposed to measured growth, but this seems a little higher density than the surrounding neighborhood and people just don’t want that change.”
The vote of the board was unanimous to deny the request.

At the Moapa Valley TAB meeting on Feb. 27, a similar scenario played out, but with key differences. In that meeting, Mike and Kim Otero had requested a change to a two acre parcel on the southwest corner of Cram and St. Joseph in Logandale. The lot is currently designated for 2 acre lots, but the Oteros were requesting a change that could someday allow for one acre parcels.

Neighbors in the area complained that such a change would not be consistent with the overall neighborhood.
“The area is two acre parcels and we want it to stay that way,” said Logandale resident Dorene Starita, who lives nearby the parcel in question. “This would be setting a precedent that we don’t want to see here.”

But Kim Otero insisted that this change would not be setting any precedent. “If you look closely at the area, there are already several other lots that are one unit per acre,” said Otero. “They are already there. So this would not be precedent setting.”
Most of the Moapa TAB members agreed with Otero.

“It is true, in that area there are already four parcels that are set for one acre parcels,” said board member Gene Houston. “So there is not a precedent being set here. And I don’t see any problem with one acre lots here.”

The board voted to approve the request with a 3-1 vote. Houston, Marjorie Holland and Lois Hall voted in favor. Kristen Pearson was opposed.

Another similar request was made by Terry and Rita Gettle on a parcel at the northeast corner of Lou and Ron. They were also asking for their two acre designation to be reduced to allow for one acre zoning. But this case was viewed differently by the board.

“This one is different because there are no other parcels that are smaller in that whole area,” Houston said. “Every one in the whole neighborhood is a two acre parcel. I think it needs to stay that way there.”
The board voted unanimously to deny the request.

Other proposed changes that came before the board were more procedural matters, mainly to clean up inconsistencies in the Land Use Plan.

In the Warm Springs area, the Southern Nevada Water Authority had acquired two additional parcels that they wanted to include in the Natural Area there. They requested a change in those parcels to match the Public Facilities designation of the rest of the Natural Area. This was approved unanimously by the Moapa board.

In Overton, Cal and Lois Hall requested a change to a parcel just south of their Cal’s Auto shop location. The request would simply match its land use designation to that of the shop property so that a future zone change could be made. This was also approved unanimously with board member Lois Hall abstaining from the vote.

Also in Overton, Val Sharp requested a change for a two acre parcel on the southwest corner of Palo Verde and Cottonwood. His parcel was already zoned for one acre lots. But its land use designation only specified two acre lots. Sharp just asked that the two be made consistent. The board approved it unanimously.

Finally the Clark County staff requested a change to the parcel housing the United Seniors Thrift Shop in Overton. Current land use designation did not match current zoning. The request was to fix this and it was approved with a unanimous vote.

The Land Use plan document will go before the Planning Commission on March 19. Then it will receive a final hearing before the County Commission on May 8 in Las Vegas.