Councilman Steve Kirk, Chairman, City of Henderson
Mayor Oscar Goodman, Vice Chair, City of Las Vegas
Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, Clark County
Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers, City of Henderson
Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, City of North Las Vegas
Councilman Joe Hardy, Boulder City
Ruth Johnson, Clark County School District Trustee
Councilman Larry Brown, City of Las Vegas
Councilman Shari Buck, City of North Las Vegas
The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition was called to order by Councilman Steve Kirk, Chair, at 3:45 p.m. Thursday, April 27, 2000, in the 8th Floor Conference Room at the City of Las Vegas City Hall Building, 400 E. Stewart, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89101.
The Agenda for the April 27, 2000, meeting was duly posted in compliance with the Open Meeting Law.
A motion was made to approve the April 27, 2000, agenda. The motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the February 24, 2000 meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. A motion was made to approve the March 23, 2000, meeting. This motion was also approved unanimously.
Phil Speight, City of Henderson, informed the Coalition members present that the agenda item form in their packet (Exhibit A) outlines the previous issues that were of concern to the Coalition at their last meeting on March 23, 2000. The issues were as follows: 1) Boundary land use planning; this item will be included in the activities of the regional policy plan development. 2) Governor's Fundamental Review of Government; staff continues to monitor this item as it relates to issues which may entail additional responsibilities for all local government agencies. Mr. Speight stated that there is concern that unfunded mandates may be passed down to the local governments. 3) SNSPA & SNRPC accomplishments and outstanding issues; staff is preparing this item. 4) County-wide community calendar; staff is also developing a county-wide calendar of events. 5) Zoning standards for bee keeping & standardized response to African Bee incidents; on May 18, 2000, Governor Guinn will hold a meeting to discuss with the Department of Agriculture a standardized response to hostile insects. The Technical Committee will combine this item with the exotic animal issue and report back to the Coalition at a later meeting. 6) NACo, NLC, and local Government legislative packages; staff is preparing this item in a final report format and will report back to the Coalition at a later date. Responding to a question posed by Councilman Kirk, Mr. Speight informed the Coalition that the SNRPC is allowed to draft three legislative bills for the 2001 Legislative Session.
Each Coalition member received a copy of the booklet entitled ULI Smart Growth Myths and Facts (Exhibit B) prior to the meeting. Phil Rosenquist, Clark County, informed the Coalition that the ULI Smart Growth Conference was held on March 16 and 17, 2000. He stated that Marta Goldsmith from the ULI moderated a panel of representatives during the last session. The panel consisted of Mary Kay Peck, representing the City of Henderson; Dan VanEpp, representing Summerlin; Sam Pierce, representing the Sierra Club; and Jacob Snow, representing the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC). They discussed the need of developing a visioning study to discover what the community consensus is on smart growth. The RTC has conducted an urban form study and has agreed to modify their study and work with the Planning Directors to coordinate a visioning process as part of the urban form study. It is hoped that information from the urban form study can be incorporated into the SNRPC's Regional Policy Plan.
A motion was made to accept the ULI Smart Growth Myths and Facts publication. This motion was approved unanimously.
Each Coalition member received copies of various back-up documents regarding the Southern Nevada Land Management Act and Special Account (Exhibit C). The documents consisted of a summary of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (ACT) of 1998, a summary labeled "Issues with the Special Account Process", the Project Charter, and a draft letter to Congressional Representatives from the Coalition chairman. Referring to the summary of the ACT, Mr. Rosenquist stated that the primary source of concern centers around the 85% of the funds that are deposited in an interest-bearing Special Fund for the following: acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands throughout Nevada; capital improvements in Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Desert National Wildlife Range, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and other BLM areas in Clark County; development of a multi-species habitat conservation plan in Clark County; development of parks, trails, and natural areas in Clark County; and reimbursement of BLM for realty expenses incurred from the Act. He stated that the perception from the Federal Charter on how to distribute funds from the Special Account is that the funds cannot be used for parks, which is not consistent with the language and intention of the ACT. Other concerns are with the provisions of the Charter, which state that acquisition of environmentally sensitive land should be given a priority to Clark County. He stated that attempts have been made to work with the BLM in terms of getting better local representation in the decision-making process, but those attempts have not been successful in getting a response. The SNRPC Technical Committee suggested that the issues be taken to the State Director of the BLM, Bob Abby; therefore, a meeting is being set up. The Technical Committee also recommended asking the SNRPC Federal Lands Disposal Subcommittee to assemble and prioritize their own list of projects in Southern Nevada in light of funding categories that are authorized in the ACT. It is expected that the list of projects will be formalized in June or July. No action was taken on this item.
Mr. Rosenquist informed the members that the SNRPC website is now available on the Internet. The address is http://www.snrpc.org. No action was taken on this item.
Councilman Kirk stated that the Coalition members are urged to participate in this part of the meeting by offering their input. Mary Kay Peck, City of Henderson, stated that the two of the consultants were present today to talk about three issues: 1) guiding principles, 2) the schedule for the remaining activities, and 3) public education and outreach program. She stated that the consultants had developed a series of guiding principles by reading through the materials received from the participating jurisdictions, interviewing key community leaders, and touring Southern Nevada.
Chris Durkson and Greg Dale, from Clarion Associates, LLC, gave the members a presentation (Exhibit D) on the three items listed above.
After discussion, a motion was made to adopt the guiding principles/goals with the option to amend and/or refine them at a later time. The motion was approved unanimously.
Mr. Rosenquist informed the members that the SNRPC was awarded the EPA Sustainable Development Grant. The grant consists of $250,000 plus a local match-in-kind staff contribution for the same amount. The EPA is currently coordinating a press release to announce the selected grant recipients. No action was taken on this item.
Ruth Johnson stated that there are some educational issues scheduled on the Clark County School Board Trustee's platform. She stated that she was scheduled to meet with the SNRPC consultants the following day and would forward the issues to the Coalition. Ms. Johnson was asked to forward the issues to Councilman Kirk's office so they could be put on the Technical Committee's agenda and then placed on the Coalition's agenda.
The next SNRPC Board meeting date is scheduled for May 25, 2000, in the City of North Las Vegas.
Brother David Buer's, a member of the Nevada Homeless Coalition, commented regarding the homeless corridor. He stated that regional planning is needed as a long-term solution and help from all jurisdictions is needed as a short-term solution.
Sam Pierce, a representative of the Sierra Club, commented on sprawl in the Las Vegas Valley. He stated that what is missing from the discussion from meetings he has attended is the vision of what the city going to be. The vision is what is needed to be presented to the public.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.