Las Vegas General Plan '75: policy guidelines

Clark County Planning Comm.

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411

DRAFTCOPY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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IVS

INTRODUCTION
GROWTH POLICY
LAND USE
HOUSING 30 COMMUNITY FACILITIES 36 TRANSPORTATION 1+6 CONSERVATION 53

PARKS AND RECREATION VISUAL ENVIRONMENT

IMPLEMENTATION

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1 9

66 78 8 5

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

This is a document of policies. These policies are in the form of recommendations to the City

of Las Vegas for planning policies in the areas of:

. Population and Economic Development . Land Use
. Housing
. Community Facilities

. Conservation
. Transportation
. Parks and Recreation . Visual Environment
. Implementation

The Las Vegas General Plan Program has been
built on the concept of policies planning.
Policies planning is not a new concept, rather simply a more refined systematic way of esta­ blishing the goals of the community and using
those goals as the basis for the development of some specific decision making guideline statements.

Policies planning is essentially a process of establishing ends, and determining means by which the ends can be achieved.

Historically, General Plans have consisted of
a series of maps and background data. The
General Plan of Las Vegas deviates from the historical pattern in that the General Plan concerns itself primarily, and almost exclusively, with relatively broad-brush policies. The GeneralPlainwillbesupplementedwithaprecise planning process which will provide the maps whichwillsetforthspecificlocationsforflood control channels, major streets, public facilities, etc. Additionally, the precise planning process will develop detailed plans for the entire City, but predicated upon smaller sub-areas referred

to as "planning districts". The precise planning function will be a continually evolving process. Theresourcematerialsuchaspopulationstatis­ tics, housing inventories, land use analysis,

etc. will be continually updated and used as a reference source for the precise planning process.

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It should be remembered that many of the policies included in the General Plan are predicated upon
a long-range effect; and in many cases, the effect can be achieved only through some type of redevelop­ ment process.

Because of the long-range objectives which are predicated in many instances upon redevelopment rather than initial development, it is conceivable that some actions may be in conflict with some of the policies; whereas, the action may simply reflect the need to continue the existing pattern until such time as the redevelopment pattern may start manifesting itself. These actions should not be considered as a dereliction of the policy, but rather as a time sequence decision.

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GROWTH POLICY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page OVERALL GROWTH POLICY 2 POPULATION 3 Population Capacity by Natural Factors 7

TABLE P-l
Residential Planning Districts 6

OVERALL GROWTH POLICY

The one factor that is used to guide the develop­ mentofallpoliciesfortheLasVegasGeneral Plan is a statement of overall growth policy.

Such a policy reflects the attitudes of the City and its people toward their future. It reflects the direction that the City wishes to take and establishes the general framework in which the City will make its decisions.

The overall growth policy that has guided the development of this General Plan for the City of Las Vegas is the continued promotion of an expanded economy through its primary indus­ trial base—tourism. While the City wishes to keep and promote its strength in tourism, it recognizes at the same time the value of the promotion of additional primary industry that is compatible with the tourist hotel/gaming

industry. In that respect, the further develop­ ment of the tourist market through an expanded concept of "recreation" that takes advantage
of the climate and the surrounding natural amenities, provides additional opportunities

that are too little tapped at the present.

Additionally, the promotion of other primary

manufacturing, and in particular the transporting * of goods that can make advantageous use of

Nevada's "free port" laws, will be pursued as a further factor in the expansion of the Las Vegas economy.

While the City of Las Vegas is actively pur­
suing this policy of growth, it realizes that therearelimitationsandconstraintsthatcan and must be applied appropriately to the nature of its growth to insure compatibility with its other physical, social and economic goals. There are, in fact, "capacities" that can be defined that will begin to suggest the range and nature

of growth. There is the ability of the City and other public agencies to provide public services to meet the full needs of or the timing and direc­ tions of growth.

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POPULATION

These factors have not led to a redefinition oftheCity'soverallgrowthpolicy.Theyhave, however, been the basis for the development of many of the detailed policies contained throughout this General Plan. As an example, the policies

on Water and Waste Management sire designed with the recognition that water appears to be a
limited resource within the predictable sources available to the Las Vegas Valley. As such, the ability of our water sources to provide for popu­ lation growth above the capacities currently defined is dependent upon our ability to im­ plement the conservation policies of this

plan. These measures are realistic and achiev­ able and will provide the Valley with some of the capacity for accommodating additional popu­ lation growth.

While the City of Las Vegas is currently pur­ suing this policy of growth, it also realizes that conditions change, attitudes change, eco­ nomics change. Such changes may necessitate changes in our policies. For this reason, the City, through this General Planj is adopting a formalized planning and review process that
will enable us to regularly re-evaluate our policies, both in detail and with regard to
the overall policy of growth. The policies contained in the Implementation Section describe this procedure.

Growth has been good to Las Vegas. While it has surely resulted in many problems, it has, at the same time, brought many benefits. If we can truly implement the policies of this General Plan, we believe that additional growth can

keep the balance of benefits to problems on the positive side for the immediate future. We be­ lieve, however, that we have established a pro­ cess that will forewarn us when the reverse be­ gins to happen.

The basis for population growth is economic ex­ pansion and natural change through births and deaths.

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Past studies identify a range of population pro­ jections that have been made for the Las Vegas Valley. Most recently, the Clark County Regional Planning Council has used a projection of 700,000 people within the Valley by the year 2000*. Those same figures show a projection for the City of Las Vegas (using its current area) of 295,000 by the year 2000. A target population and year are not used, however, in the development of the policies of this General Plan. This analysis of rates

of growth will become important as the City implements the General Plan through the scheduling and budgeting of improvements for public services to accommodate this rate of growth.

The intent of establishing policies to guide population densities is to perpetuate the exist­ ing population density characteristics of the City. Therefore, densities expressed in overall figures such as persons per acre or per square mile for the entire City are meaningless. Rather than establishing policies directed at total City population figures, the policies are directed toward densities within neighborhoods and planning

districts. The density of these areas then form
a composite which results in the total city density. The overall city density may change as may the
city population factor without necessarily any change in the basic density pattern. For example, you may increase the total population of the city without enlarging the area of the city by increasing permitted densities, but also you may increase the population of the city through annexation of area and population which may serve to decrease the overall density of the city. The General Plan
will concern itself with perpetuating a density pattern that will accommodate the on-going life­ styles which directly relates to the concensus
of the citizens' input into the recommended policies. A city may grow horizontally or verti­ cally or in a manner which is a combination of
both types of growth. Areas of high densities of people provide certain benefits; however, at the same time, product certain objectionable charac­

teristics. This is also true of areas of low density.

*Clark County Regional Planning Council, Current Population and Frnnnm-in

Statistics. 1973.

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It is extremely difficult, if not impossible
to accrue the benefits without the ill-effects; therefore, a determination must be made as to which course of action to pursue. The people
of the City of Las Vegas have indicated by past preference and by input into the recommendations of this General Plan that they wish to perpetuate

the low-density development pattern which is the primary characteristic of the Las Vegas area.
The policies, therefore, are directed toward the goal of minimizing the ill-effects of a low-density pattern and maximizing the benefits.

TABLE P.l RESIDENTIAL PLANNING DISTRICTS

RPD

Population Capacity Objectives Medium high to high density Medium low to medium density Low to medium low density

It should be recognized that wherein specific figures are listed relating to population capacities, densities, etc., that these are listed simply as guiding influences. These guiding influences will he brought to bear upon the overall general characteristics of land use which, in turn, provide a basis for determining present and future needs, needs as expressed in terms of utilities, public facilities, and services. The advent of population den­ sities in excess or less than those suggested by this

Plan should not be viewed with alarm, nor concluded to
be contrary to the general recommendations as long as the overall density characteristics of the City continue to compare with the existing density pattern which, in turn, reflects the desires of the people of the City as ex­ pressed through the citizens* committee input. The policies set forth are not intended to be rigid, but of

necessity must be flexible as long as the degree of flexibility is contained within the overall parameters of the policies. The population capacity within the urbanized portion of the City measured in terms of the

Population Capacity Objectives is slightly more than 200,000 people.

Other capacity figures can be used as deter­ minants of maximum possible supportable

population. One such figure is natural deter­ minants.

As discussed elsewhere in other elements of
the Policies Guidelines, several natural con­ ditions may become overriding factors in de­ termining population capacities. Air quality
is one such factor which could conceivably
place limits on the total supportable popula­
tion within the Las Vegas Valley air basin.
The standards contained in this Policies Guide­ lines along with those currently being discussed
by the Clark County District Board of Health
and the Environmental Protection Agency are designed to preclude that capacity figure from being reached.

While it is too soon to determine whether or
not such regulations will, in fact, achieve that goal, the goal is clearly the extension of capacity and reduction of pollution levels.

The other, perhaps more critical factor, is water availability.

Based on current sources of water which include allocations to the Las Vegas Valley of 50,000 acre feet per year of ground water and 265,000 acre feet per year from the Southern Nevada Water Project, the total amount of water avail­ able to the Valley for consumptive uses is approximately 315,000 acre feet annually.

Based on current consumption rates for water usage, the 315,000 acre feet will support a population of 710,000 which is approximately the low range population projection by the Clark County Regional Planning Council for the year 2000.

While the question of growth and growth rate is an on-going subject of debate, the question remains as to whether or not this population figure is,
in fact, a maximum holding capacity for the Valley.

INTERIM URBANIZED PLANNING AREA (IUPA)

Conceivably, new sources of water may become available to the Valley sometime in the future through technological advances or by import.
It is also possible that the per capita rate of consumption may decrease. In any event, the availability of natural resources such as water and clean air will act as a growth determining factor. The desirability of the Las Vegas

area to tourists will determine to a large extent continued growth and if it ever reaches a point wherein this desirability factor cannot be main­ tained due to a lack of resources, the economic base will stabilize or decline with a concurrent stabilization or decline of population.

The Interim Urbanized Planning Area (IUPA), as shown on the Land Use Plan, is a concept that suggests that for the immediate future* the major emphasis for urbanization within the City of Las Vegas should occur within that line.

This becomes, in essence, a policy line by which the City and other agencies can develop capital expansion and improvement plans for the various utilities and services that must be provided for new development.

In this interim period, major efforts will be undertaken to expand and upgrade service systems within the Interim Urbanized Planning Area (IUPA) to meet development requirements.

By establishing an IUPA the City is able to realistically plan for the expansion of services without being concerned about the possibility of premature development occuring outside the IUPA and thereby overtaxing the ability of the City
or other agencies to expand services to that development at the expense of not being able to adequately serve undeveloped areas within the IUPA.

The City will not preclude development occuring outside the IUPA, rather it goes on record as not obligating itself to serve those areas with any or all services unless the development is willing to pay the full costs of these unplanned services.

*The time definition for the "immediate future" is not well defined. In general this period is probably between U and 8 years. The annual and five year Development Review Process identified in the Implementation Ele­ ment will be the mechanism by which the IUPA is modified to meet the needs for additional development areas.

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The City does not wish to stop growth. It
simply feels that there is adequate land within the IUPA to accommodate growth for the immediate future. Additionally, when growth occurs, the City believes that people living in the growing areas have a right to the services provided to other portions of the community. If the City
has no way of knowing where the demands for services will occur, it cannot plan for their expansion and cannot guarantee their availability at the time of development.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

RESIDENTIAL POLICIES 10

Residential Development Guidelines 12 Density Ranges 12 Neighborhood Concept Guidelines 13

Neighborhoods 15 Urban Neighborhoods 17 Suburban Neighborhoods 18 Rural Neighborhoods 19

Neighborhood Implementation Policies 21

Other Residential Policies 21 Mobile Homes 21 High Density Apartments 22

COMMERCIAL POLICIES 2k Regional Activity Center 25 District Commercial Centers 25 Neighborhood Commercial Centers 26 Special Commercial 26 General Commercial 27

INDUSTRIAL POLICIES 28

TABLES

L.l Residential Planning Districts 10 L.2 R.P.D. Population Design - Reduction

Factors 11 L.3 Neighborhood Policies and Standards 16

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Page

RESIDENTIAL POLICIES

The residential uses in a community occupy the majority of the land area of the com­ munity. They are probably also the most important uses to us as residents since they both reflect and structure our individual living environment and lifestyle.

The basic structure of the residential poli­ cies of the Las Vegas Land Use Plan center around a concept of development intensity measured in people per square mile. The con­ cept is not yet concerned with how the people arearrangedwithina squaremile,rather simply how many are contained within that area. This square mile area and the number of people within it become a basic planning and measuring unit from which almost all addi­ tional calculations are made. This planning unit we will call a Residential Planning Dis­ trict and is generally defined as one square mile, encompassed by the mile grid arterial system that is relatively uniformly developed throughout the Valley.

Three types of Residential Planning Districts (RPD) are used in the Las Vegas Land Use Plan. The intensity of development contained within

an RPD is a design population figure that generally relates to the necessary support popu­ lation for neighborhood elementary schools. Table L.l is a description of each type of RPD.

RPD

A B C

Capacity Population People/Sq. Mile

(gross)

12,000 - lU,000 8,000 - 9,000 1,000 - 2,500

People/Acre (gross)

18.8 - 21.8 12.5 - lU.l 1.6 - 3.9

Table L.l - Residential Planning Districts

It is important to remember that these figures
are design figures. Many developed portions of the community that may be designated as "A" Residential area are not developed to this degree of intensity.

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|

Percent of R.P.D. not in j residential or specified

neighborhood support uses1

IReduction Factor

10-195? .15 11,900 20-29/? .25 10,500 30-395? .35 9,100 1+0-1+9% .1*5 7,700 50-71*5? .63 5,250 75-1005? 1-8 1,750

1Neighborhood Support Uses Include:

As some of these areas redevelop over time, they will he able to develop more intensely

since these larger figures have been used to base public facility designs.

Often, although the RPD Population design figure is based on a gross square mile area, portions of an RPD may contain non-residential development or uses that do not relate directly to the neighborhood needs of a residential area Table L.2 describes the reductions that will occur in the Population Design of an RPD when

portions of it are so developed. Table L.2 - R.P.D. Population Design - Reduction Factors

. Neighborhood Parks/Recreation/Service Centers . Elementary School

. Pedestrian or Bicycle Paths . Neighborhood Commercial
. Churches
. Fire Station

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(People/Square Mile) Residential Planning District

ABc

7,700 6,800 5,900 5,000 3,300 1,100

2,100 1,900 1,600 1,1*00

900 300

Residential Development Guidelines

Density Ranges

Within any RPD, the following residential density categories will be used as design guidelines:

RPD

Density Category

Low
Medium Low Medium Medium High High

Net Density^

0.5 - 3.0 3.0 - 7.0 7.0 - 15.0 15.0 - 25.0 25.0 - UO.O

above 1+0.0^

Average House- Hold Size

3.3 3.1 2.8

•'-Net density here indicates the total number of dwelling units on a single acre of land.

^Residential projects above 1+0du/net acre may be allowed only with a granting of
a conditional use permit. Award will be based on an individual project evaluation.

The following mixes of densities will apply to the three types of RPD's. These ratios essen­ tially establish the density mixes that may be possible within the various RPD.

High Medium Medium Medium Low High Low

%1%%% A 50% 25% 25% 0 0

B 0 101 60% 30# 0 C 0 0 0 25% 15%

It should be noted that for an RPD that is partially developed with non-residential or residential support uses, the reduction factor

(Table L.2) should be applied to obtain the maximum acreage figure.

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Neighborhood Concept Guidelines

In addition to the foregoing, the following policies will serve as additional guidelines for the development of residential uses.

• .  Residential development facing directly to the arterial street of an RPD shall he avoided. Generally, all residential development within an RPD shall face the interior of the RPD and/or to collector streets.

• .  Higher density development will generally he located closer to the exterior of an RPD rather than to the center, or it will he located in proximity to commercial or other designated activity centers other than neighborhood commercial uses.

  . Mixing of housing types and densities may be permitted with attention paid to insur­ ing smooth transition between types and densities.

  . As much as possible, neighborhood support uses (Table L.2, footnote) will be de­ signed as an integral part of the resi­ dential development so that they can truly become a part of the physical and social focus of a residential development.

  . The use of "Planned Residential Develop­ ment" zoning concepts is encouraged as much as possible.

  . The interior of an RPD should generally reflect a traffic circulation system that will move traffic slowly and is mainly to serve interior movement only. Bicycle and pedestrian movement should be planned into residential development.

  While the foregoing policies and standards will generally guide the development of residential areas of the community, and they are sufficiently flexible to allow some variation within the constraints of popula­ tion capacity, density ranges, and density mixes, they may not provide the means to create a strong sense of "neighborhood".

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The following policies and standards repre­
sent a design concept that can be used within theconceptoftheResidentialPlanningDistricts, but with many different implementation tools.

The central theme of the neighborhood concept is one of a residential neighborhood that is focused on an elementary school and other local functions suchaslocalpartsorrecreationfacilitiesand

neighborhood commercial, uses.

For planning purposes, the neighborhood is generally defined by the extent of residential developmentnecessarytogenerateenoughchil­ dren to support an elementary school. In Las Vegas,theClarkCountySchoolDistrictuses

the following figures to guide their planning for elementary schools.

Optimum Maximum Elementary Schools 600-866 1,250

(K-5 and 6th (Students) Grade Centers)

In their most recent Master Plan (December, 1973) the recommendation is made that future school planning be based on a school size of

630 students.

Thenumberofchildrenthatwillbegenerated by any residential development is variable dependingonmanyfactors—familyincome, education levels, location in the community, housing size, employment characteristics. In general, the family size (and therefore the

number of children) decreases as the density of housing rises. This fact is particularly true when housing goes from single family to multi-family.UsingtheSchoolDistrict's

figures,from3,500toU,000peoplewillgene­ rate 600 to 700 elementary school students.

With this general population guideline to neighborhood definition, as the densities changeinneighborhoods,theirsizewillalso change. The higher the neighborhood density, the smaller the size of the neighborhood.

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The basic purpose of the neighborhood concept is to provide a planning concept that will create a series of physical and social rela­ tionships that are focused around a common set of needs and the facilities to meet those needs. By shifting development policies to­ ward the neighborhood concept, the intent is to create a planning "yardstick" by which all residential development can be measured to see

how well it is achieving the concept.

Now, instead of measuring residential develop­ ment against only density measures or popula­ tion capacity, we have a design concept that suggests lifestyle choices to measure against also. The neighborhood truly becomes some­ thing toward which residential development is designed.

In an evaluation the question can be asked ... "Does this proposed development help achieve a'neighborhood'?" Therewillneverberules that will answer the question completely since the success of a neighborhood is not solely dependent upon technical, measurable factors. The policies that follow, however, will provide

a basic set of performance or evaluation cri­ teria that will not only enable the achievement of the concept, but also provide flexibility to the developer to strive for a quality environment.

Neighborhoods

Three classifications of neighborhoods are used in the Las Vegas General Plan. All neighborhoods generally contain the same number of people since the primary defining factor is the elementary school and the num­ ber of people it takes to generate sufficient

support. The areas involved in the various neighborhoods are different and are based on netdwellingunit densitiesthataregenerally consistent with those currently used by the City of Las Vegas and other jurisdictions in the Valley.

Table L.3 is a summary of the major policies and standards that are applicable to the three neighborhoods. In addition, the following policies also are applicable.

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Table L.3 - Neighborhood Policies and Standards1 NEIGHB0RH00DS

Recommended Design Population Recommended Neighborhood Area Recommended Maximum DU/Net Acrep Recommended Average DU/Net AcreO

Recommended Minimum DU/Net Acre2 Recommended Maximum DU/Gross Acrep Recommended Average DU/Gross Acre3

Recommended Minimum DU/Gross Acre2

Recommended Percent of Residential Net Coverage^

NON-RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS FOR NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING1

. Percent of neighborhood in streets

. Neighborhood Commercial^

. Elementary School^

. Parks/Recreation Facilities/Open Space/Neighborhood Service CenterT

Urban Suburban Rural k,000 k,000 k,000

1,280 Acres 3 du/N. Ac.

1.3 du/N. Ac. . 5 du/N. Ac. 2.1 du/G. Ac.

100 Acres
^0 du/N. Ac.
25.5 du/N. Ac. 7 du/N. Ac. 11 du/N. Ac. k du/N. Ac.

•^These reflect recommended standards as a goal rather than rigid specifications.

2The maximum and minimum extremes in the density ranges indicate tne desirable number of dwelling units which can be established on a single net (gross) acre

of land.
3The average densities indicate the average net (gross) density that is desirable

for the entire neighborhood.
^The desirable percent of the neighborhood area that may be used for residential

purposes.

5see Commercial Policies for further elaboration.

6SeeCommunityFacilitiesPoliciesandClarkCountySchoolDistrictMasterPlan for further elaboration.

^See Parks and Recreation Policies for further elaboration. The choice of acres/ 1000peopleor %istoindicatewhicheverstandardisgreaterwillapply.

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320 Acres 10 du/N. Ac.

22 du/G. Ac. 6 du/G. Ac.
lk du/G. Ac. k.2 du/G. Ac. •9 du/G. Ac. 6.1 du/G. Ac. 2.k du/G. Ac. .k du/G. Ac.

10%

23%

1 Ac/1000 People People People

55!

25%

60%

23%

1 Ac/1000

1 Ac/1000

8-10 Ac.

3 Ac/1000 People or

12%

8-10 Ac.

2 Ac/1000 People or

3%

8-10 Ac.

1 Ac/1000 People

Urban Neighborhoods

The Urban Neighborhood represents a relatively high density development pattern. It is realized that this intensity of lifestyle is notdesiredbyallinthecommunityandyet thereareopportunitiesaffordedbythistype of development that are of positive benefit to the community.

In general, Urban Neighborhoods will be found in the central portions of the City.

The intent, as with all neighborhoods, is that the Urban Neighborhood when fully developed will be a residential area with a variety of densities and housing styles. The planning and design of a neighborhood will be such that housing, recreation areas, pedestrian and bi­ cycle paths, commercial areas, and other

facilities will all work together to reinforce each other. They will not be separate pieces that Just happen to be next to each other, rathertheywillbedesignedtobecompletely integrated into a residential area that works as a unified set of neighborhood functions.

The Urban Neighborhood in particular is designed to provide many of the basic daily needswithintheneighborhoodplan,all easily within walking distance. The Urban

Neighborhood should have almost no need for automobile movement between points within the neighborhood; rather, the auto in the Urban Neighborhood will provide movement to points outside the neighborhood.

In addition to the policies and standards in Table L.3, the following policies will also apply to the Urban Neighborhood.

. Generally no more than two Urban Neigh­ borhoods will be contained within one RPD.

. An Urban Neighborhood may be developed
in an "A" RPD using the policies and standards in Table L.3» except at such time as the RPD is over 50# developed.^ Under such existing conditions the maximum average net density of the Planned Urban

Neighborhood may not exceed 2.0 times the existing average net density of the RPD.

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. Urban Neighborhoods will not be allowed in a "C" RPD.

. A mixture of density and housing types
may be permitted within an Urban Neigh­ borhood. This variation in density will be used, in addition to creating design variations, to insure maximum compatibility with adjacent development and take all measures to insure a smooth transition between neighborhoods.

Suburban Neighborhoods

The Suburban Neighborhood is intended to be the predominant form of neighborhood within the com­ munity. It is designed to include the single family home as the major housing type, although within the concept of variable densities in neighborhoods a mixture to single family, clus­ ter,townhouses,etc.,ispermitted. Itis recognized that too much mixture of different housing types will be detrimental to the neigh­ borhood so that it is incumbent to both the designer and the City to evaluate the merits

of a proposal with this in mind. Compatibility is essential while diversity is desirable.

As with all neighborhoods, its success is de­ pendent on a design that creates a sense of unity to the neighborhood so that residential uses relate strongly to the neighborhood sup­ porting uses of parks and recreation areas, neighborhood commercial, pedestrian and bicycle paths, elementary schools, etc.

In addition to the policies and standards in Table L.3 for Suburban Neighborhoods, the follow­ ing policies will also apply:

• .  In general, Suburban Neighborhoods will be contained only within the "A" and "B" RPD.

• .  Suburban Neighborhoods within an "A" RPD should be designed generally at their high­ est average densities allowed.

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. While the standards for neighborhood commercial in Table L.3 will apply to Suburban Neighborhoods, because of local existing conditions and because the automobile is a more important
part of a Suburban Neighborhood, it may not be possible to fully justify
a neighborhood commercial center with­

in only one neighborhood. It may, in
fact, be desirable within a "B" RPD with Suburban Neighborhoods as the primary
form of development, to develop a plan
for both neighborhoods that focuses toward a single neighborhood commercial center. Otherwise, within a single Suburban Neighborhood the neighborhood commercial center should be oriented to the neigh­ borhood, but in a position generally toward the outer edge of the plan to minimize the travel of delivery trucks into the residential areas and to allow some of the needed market support to be obtained from adjacent areas. (See Commercial policies for additional dis­ cussion. )

Rural Neighborhoods

The Rural Neighborhood is not considered an interim use awaiting more intense development at some later time. The primary intent of the Rural Neighborhood is to provide a very low

density pattern of development that will be consistent with the objectives of those people who desire that type of lifestyle and yet also consistent with the objectives of the community.

While the Rural Neighborhood is not predominant in the community, it is nonetheless important tothecommunityasitstrivestofulfillthe varied housing and lifestyle desires of all of its residents.

Thebasicneighborhoodconceptstillappliesto this low density development pattern although the geographic size of the neighborhood will make it difficult to create a strong sense of "oneness" of continuity to the overall neighborhood.

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The sense of identity with the neighborhood
will not come as much from the relationships between houses or between houses and elementary schools as it does with the other Neighborhood categories. Instead, the feeling of "Neighborhood" will come from an overall plan of circulation in terms of streets, bicycle paths, pedestrian and equestrian paths as well as landscape continuity and other design measures. Rather than a neigh­ borhood of simply large lots on which a home is placed, the Rural Neighborhood contains a specified number of people and families in a relatively large geographic area. The manner in which those families and their homes are arranged in that

large area is more dependent on other lifestyle objectives of the people than could be achieved with a single house on a single lot.

Neighborhood commercial uses and local parks are not considered essential services to the Rural Neighborhood. The individual house lot or overall available open space afforded through the low density development precludes most of the need for neighborhood recreation facilities. On the other hand, the importance of circulation measures such as bicycle and equestrian paths remains high.

In addition to the policies and standards con­ tained in Table L.3, the following policies will also apply to Rural Neighborhoods:

. Rural Neighborhoods will generally only be allowed in a "C" RPD.

. While variation in density is possible within the Rural Neighborhood, maximum attention must be paid to maintaining compatibility with existing development. The individual living in this low density neighborhood is often paying a premium cost to live this lifestyle. At the same time, some variation of housing style and density is possible provided that appropriate design measures are utilized to maintain compatibility.

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Other Residential Policies

Neighborhood Implementation Policies

The City of Las Vegas feels strongly that the neighborhood concept will provide many positive benefits to the community. It is therefore in the interest of the community that the City provide policies that will encourage the de­ velopment of residential areas utilizing this concept.

Mobile Homes

Mobile Homes are and will continue to be an important part of the housing market. They offer many advantages to the community in meeting the varied demands for lifestyle and housing types. At the same time, because of their somewhat unique characteristics, they should be located only in certain areas of the community. The following policies will apply to mobile homes.

. Mobile homes may only be allowed in mobile home parks or in mobile home subdivisions.

. Mobile home parks will be located in specified mobile home districts or areas as established within the Pre­ cise Planning Process (see Implementa­ tion).

. It is difficult to adequately enforce mobile home parks within the traditional structure of zoning ordinances. To pro­ vide a potential solution to this prob­ lem, the City shall investigate the feasibility and desirability of estab­ lishing a permit or business license method of regulation leaving the responsi­

bility for violations to a park manager rather than to the individual home owner.

. Large mobile home parks and subdivisions shall require the same obligations for the relationship of their development to schools, parks, and other neighborhood facilities as any other type of residen­ tial development.

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. All mobile home developments shall take design measures that are appropriate to insure compatibility with adjacent de­ velopment.

• The development of mobile home parks and subdivisions under the provisions of "planned residential developments" is allowed and encouraged.

High Density Apartments

High rise apartment projects of over four floors or over Uo dwelling units on a single net acre of land will be allowed within the community on the basis of a Conditional Use Permit only.

It is apparent that there is an existing
demand for some high density apartment living in the Las Vegas Valley. It is expected
that this demand will continue and may in­ crease as people's lifestyle desires change. Additionally, the economic structure of the community is such that many Las Vegas resi­ dents live a highly mobile lifestyle and find it desirable and necessary to maintain resi­ dences in several locations in the country
or the world. The high density apartment often best suits their needs.

The impact of such high density apartment de­ velopment is potentially substantial to a community so that special care must be taken in providing for their development. For this reason, the following policies will apply to such projects.

. High density apartment projects of over four floors or over Uo dwelling units on a single net acre of land will be allowed on the basis of a Conditional Use Permit only.

. High rise apartments or condominiums will only be allowed within an "A" RPD.

-22-

-23-

• In general, high density projects will not "be included as a part of the population capacity figures used for the RPD Classi­ fications. Apartofthe"basisfortheir

evaluation will be whether or not the proposed project could be developed within the capacities of the various utilities and services of a fully developed RPD.

COMMERCIAL POLICIES

Commercial land use classification in a community is often the most difficult to

deal with since, as it represents generally the highest value land, its attraction for speculation purposes is quite high.

Commercial development on the other hand is relatively easy to deal with since most com­ mercial uses actually built are done so on the basis of a market demand that is rela­ tively easily defined.

To most communities it is the speculation
in the classification of commercial land use that causes the community problems rather than the actual built uses themselves. Although if there is considerable speculation based on the classification of commercial uses, this will tend to create a distorted picture of the actual market demand and therefore may allow some commercial development or occur for which there is no or little long term market. When this occurs, those developed commercial uses will tend to become a drag on the community as they go into a cycle of high tenant turn-over, quality decline, and eventual decay. To the community this represents not only a loss in value to the tax roles, but will tend to affect

surrounding uses and create a climate for vandalism and general abuse.

The City of Las Vegas does not wish to see either the granting of commercial use rights
or the actual development of commercial uses abused so that the community suffers from the consequences. The City therefore endorses the concept of Planned Commercial Centers as the primary basis for commercial development. This Planned Commercial Center concept is at times added to a broader concept of Activity Center which has been discussed elsewhere in the Land Use Element.

The Las Vegas Land Use Element uses categories of commercial uses:

.DistrictCommercialCenters . Neighborhood Commercial
. Special Commercial
. General Commercial

-2k-

Regional Activity- Center

In promoting the concept of Activity Centers, the City of Las Vegas feels that a major Regional Activity Center should develop around a regional commercial center. While

he commercial use may be the primary focus for the Regional Activity Center, it should also contain a variety of public and private uses. Some of these might include:

• professional offices
. public facilities such as

- community library
- post office
- governmental service center
- cultural center
- Junior, senior high school and/or

community college
- transportation stop
- community recreation complex - local health clinic

. day care centers
. commercial recreation (theaters, other)

While it is not necessary that all of these
uses be included within a major Regional Activity Center, the City of Las Vegas feels that the community will benefit if such a multi-use
center were developed.

The development of such an activity center around a regional commercial facility will re­ quire the development of a Precise Planning Process.

The location of future regional commercial facilities are not indicated on the General Plan of Land Use. It has been determined that the Southern Nevada area can support another regional commercial center and that, generally speaking, it should be located in the north­ western part of the valley in contrast to the existing center which is oriented toward the southeastern part of the valley.

District DistrictCommercialCentersareasthenameand Commercial Centers standards suggest, related more to the needs of

a local area of several square miles in size.

-25-

Neighborhood Commercial Centers

Special Commercial

Although the District Commercial Center is designed to be primarily commercial and service uses, some public or semi-public uses could be found within such a facility. In general, however the larger Regional Activity Center will accommo­ date the broader range of uses.

In the discussion, policies and standards for neighborhoods in the Residential Policies sec­ tion of this element, most of the applicable policies have been identified. The primary intent in the development of neighborhood commercial centers is that they, in fact, re­ late to a neighborhood service area. They are not designed to serve the entire community

by capturing a drive-in market along major arterials. Their purpose is neighborhood service.

Special Commercial is designed to accommodate specialized commercial needs such as profes­ sional offices and other service professions and businesses.

Such areas need to be strongly related to transportation systems and corridors since the type of activity they tend to generate is the "one stop" activity. While in some cases this may begin to appear to approxi­ mate what is typically called strip commer­ cial, the intent of the use is not.

In addition to applicable policies contained elsewhere, the following shall also apply:

• .  Generally speaking, "Strip Commercial" should be avoided; however, in those cases wherein this type of pattern is firmly esta blished, the "filling out" of the area will be recognized as being logical. However, design criteria shall be used to mitigate the ill effects as much as possible.

• .  As much as possible, projects will be developed as complexes of buildings oriented around pedestrian spaces or interior parking areas rather than as row buildings facing the arterial street.

-26-

General Commercial

. A minimum of curb cuts will be allowed along any section of arterial and wherever possible, collector streets will be used for site access.

. Landscaping is an important part of the design of these uses.

The general commercial use category embraces
two or three distinct types of commercial development such as highway frontage development, those activities associated with downtown including economic base activities, and con­ ceivably satellite areas which may be a combina­ tion of the two plus other elements.

The highway commercial use category is designed to accommodate generally those uses that involve a high cost per purchase and a relatively low volume per customer.

In addition to other applicable policies, the following shall apply:

. Although the primary orientation of the structures will be toward the arterial streets, curb cuts will be kept to a minimum to avoid an excess of left turn situations.

. As much as possible joint use parking facilities will be encouraged between separate uses.

. Adequate buffers will be provided between
the Highway Commercial use and any adjacent residential uses. This will include measures to insure visual, noise and light screening.

One area in the City of Las Vegas is officially designated as Downtown. While the specific designation of boundaries is to be included
in the Precise Plan for the Downtown area, generally, the area in which the City wishes to concentrate major "downtown activity is the area generally bounded by Bonanza, Las Vegas

Boulevard, Stewart, Ninth, Bridger, Las Vegas Boulevard, Bonneville and Main.

-27-

INDUSTRIAL POLICIES

The City feels that it is in the best interest of the community as a whole to concentrate "downtown" activities into one location so that supporting plans for parking, pedestrian and vehicular access, maximizing visual impact, etc. can be developed to support and enhance the

individual and collective facilities.

The primary industrial base for Las Vegas is tourism. Asanindustrialactivity,tourism provides employment in two general areas.
First is the primary employment of the Hotels
and Casinos. These uses, although they could be considered to be the economic base of the community, are handled as a commercial use and are contained

in the Commercial Policies section.

The second area of industrial uses is the support industries. To Las Vegas this means generally wholesale suppliers and warehouses.

To accommodate these needs, the following in­ dustrial policies will apply:

. Industrial areas are confined to those areas as shown on the Land Use Plan.

. As much as possible, industrial areas shall be developed in accordance with modern principles of "industrial park" development, including:

-28-

-

-

-

A basic street and utility pattern which will permit flexibility in the size of industrial sites available

Maintaining options for the extension of rail spur lines to sites which do not border directly upon the mainline

Maintaining options for meeting vari­ able levels of power required by various industries

- The availability of a basic system of streets, including adequate access to the Interstate 15 or other major ex­ terior oriented arterial without forc­ ing traffic through residential areas

-29-

- A complete set of "performance standards"

- Evidence of continuing management re­ sponsibility to enforce restrictions established under the original develop­ ment plan.

. Industrial development adjacent to existing or planned residential areas shall be con­ ditioned to assure that design proposals demonstrate proper site planning to maximize the compatibility between the industrial

use and the adjacent use.

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HOUSING

HOUSING GOALS
OVERALL HOUSING CONCEPT HOUSING POLICIES

Additional Housing Units

Housing Improvement Progress HOUSING IMPLEMENTATION POLICIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

-30-

HOUSING GOALS

If Las Vegas is to continue to grow and
develop into a community in which there is provided not only a sufficient amount of housing but also an amount which provides for a range
of choice in both type and income range, the

community must establish housing policies which will enhance the possibility of this occurring.

Thus, the major goal of this Housing Element
is to develop policies and suggest regulations which will assure that a range of housing opportunities are made available for varying

incomes and lifestyles. Secondly, a major concernofthesepolicieswillbetoenhance
the quality of housing in the city—both existing housing and new construction.

As an important portion of the Las Vegas Plan, the Housing Policies are principally concerned with the development of the resi­ dential environment in such a manner that

it will meet the lifestyle needs and desires of the Las Vegas residents. As explained within the Land Use Plan, the implementing tools by which people will be housed in

Las Vegas center around the concepts of the ResidentialPlanningDistrictandtheneigh­ borhood. The policies needed to implement these concepts are well documented within the

LandUsePlanandwillnotbecoveredagain
in detail within this section. Their relation­ ship, however, in meeting the objectives listed below for this element will be discussed.

Thus, the housing policies will only, in
general, concern themselves with the locational criteria for housing as it relates to densities and placement within the community's land usestructure.Thepoliciesspecificallywill concern themselves with the provision of housing

for low and moderate income families and the enhancement of the quality of housing in the community. As such, the following objectives have been developed for this element:

- encourage the development of housing for the segment of the population that is considered low and moderate income.

OVERALL HOUSING CONCEPT

-31-

HOUSING POLICIES ADDITIONAL HOUSING UNITS

• -  encourage developers to build housing fitted to the natural environment and

  to the varied needs of the citizens of the City.

• -  encourage the maintenance of existing housing throughout the City.

• -  provide measures which will assure a high quality of future housing.

  The costs of housing have continually ac­ celerated during the past decade to a point that the idea of owning a new home has be­ come an unrealistic dream for a large por­ tion of the population. While the low in­ come family used to be of most concern to those in the housing field, today the moder­ ate income family is experiencing problems finding economical housing as well. Many housing developers say they cannot build housing for families below the median income range, leaving half of our families without the potential for buying a new home. In a community such as Las Vegas which values its single family, relatively low density life­

  style, this should be of major concern.

  To encourage the provision of housing for low and moderate income families, the follow­ ing policies shall apply:

  • -  developers shall be encouraged to pro­ vide a variety of compatible housing styles and price ranges within their developments.

  • -  to stimulate the involvement of the financial community in meeting the hous­ ing needs of all segments of the popula­ tion, local banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies and
    other financial institutions are encouraged to pool their resources to provide a local source of capital for the mortgaging of "high risk" low and moderate income housing.

-32-

- the City shall examine its building code, housing code, subdivision regulations,
and its zoning ordinance to eliminate unnecessary provisions which would inflate housing development costs.

- non-profit housing sponsors are encouraged to involve themselves in the development of low and moderate income housing.

- federal subsidized housing programs shall be closely monitored and once these pro­ grams are reinstated or new programs ini­ tiated, efforts will be made to take ad­ vantage of them to the fullest extent possible.

- the City will investigate the various means available to return to the housing inventory those housing units which have had their mortgages foreclosed by FHA. Coordination should be maintained between the City, Las Vegas Housing Authority, and other interested groups in the community regarding the potential reuse of these

housing units.

Considerable concern has been noted regarding the quality of housing in the community, both from a standpoint of existing housing condi­ tions as well as the quality of new housing construction. The following policies have been developed in an attempt to alleviate these problems.

- the City shall continue the effective enforcement of its building code.

- the City shall continue the housing code program in those areas of the community that have been designated as having a
high incidence of code violations. The housingcodeprogramwill,however,be premised upon the availability of financial assistance to the low income housing consumer.

HOUSING IMPLEMENTATION POLICIES

The means by which policies become implemented is a crucial portion of any policies document. It is especially important within a planning program because of the traditional tendency to allow plans to sit on the shelf and collect dust. The following policies are a continu­ ation of the Planning Process outlined within the General Implementation Policies section of the Land Use Element. As such, the emphasis is on the institution of a monitoring process by which the effectiveness, or lack of effectiveness, of the housing policies can be determined.

- the City shall encourage action to assist
the decision-makers, both private and public, to improve the flow of information about housing through the development of
a "periodic information bulletin" on a regional basis. This bulletin will indi­ cate housing starts by type, price, location, occupancy status to include vacancy rates, and sales data (numbers, location, price, time on market, characteristics, and

Community Development Department data such as applications for zone changes and variances, subdivision activity and land use changes.

-3U-

- the City shall encourage, and actively participate when appropriate, neighbor­ hood improvement programs throughout the community in a "paint-up/fix-up" campaign.

-

-

the City shall review its building code to assure that new construction methods have been incorporated whenever possible to cut the costs of housing while main­ taining high standards of quality con­ struction.

developers are encouraged to take into consideration energy conservation measures— for example, proper insulation, location and types of windows—when designing houses.

the City shall encourage the development of an economic profile of the work force on a regional basis in an effort to
monitor the existing housing development within the housing needs of the people working in the region. A cross referencing between the Economic Profile and the Information Bulletin will enable the

City to know how well the housing market is meeting the needs of its citizens.

the City shall continue to coordinate housing proposals with transportation, open space and community facilities plans to maximize benefits to the residents, minimize conflicts and provide a tie-in between new residential areas and service needs.

the City will determine the feasibility of establishing a Housing Committee to assist the City in monitoring progress toward meeting the Housing Goals, Objectives and Policies of the General Plan.

the City shall establish a periodic review process of the Housing Element to evaluate the progress made during the past year. This review will include:

—Update of information and analysis of the housing inventory and housing con­ ditions.

—Re-evaluation of housing problems.

—Measurement of degree of success or failure in accomplishing housing policies.

—Re-evaluation of policies based on results of above items.

—Update of Housing Element.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMMUNITYFACILITIESGOALS 37 OVERALL COMMUNITY FACILITIES CONCEPTS 37 COMMUNITY FACILITIES POLICIES 38

Joint Use Facilities 38

ResidentialPlanningDistrict
Services 39

Major Community Facilities 1*1

CommunityFacilitiesCosts ^3 COMMUNITY FACILITIES IMPLEMENTATION

POLICIES h2 CapitalImprovementsProgramming ^2 Development Timing M

TABLE I

COMMUNITY FACILITIES WITHIN
RESIDENTIAL PLANNING DISTRICTS *+0

-36-

Page

COMMUNITY FACILITIES GOALS

The community facilities provided within a

ni,^COnS St °f a vital of theCity's quality of life for both individuals and

tb»?PS' •> types °f community facilities, their relationships to one another and ap-

senS- patterns of location, are repre­ sentative of the desires and needs of the

people they serve and the technological and

organizational resources available. Thus,

the principal goal of these Community

Facilities Policies is to provide a full

range of public facilities that are well

related to user needs, economical, and con­ venient.

The major focus within the Community Facili­ ties Plan is to develop a well integrated system of public services throughout the city. Ratherthanattempttodevelopa single centered system, the emphasis is on

a localized program through a multi-centered approach. The intent is to bring the sei— vices to the people instead of requiring the people to go to the services. As cities grow at the rapid pace that Las Vegas is, there is a frequent concern on the part of the residents that the "bigness" of the

urban environment no longer allows them

ready and easy access to their public ser­

vants. The policies within this plan thus

attempt to alleviate that potential in Las Vegas.

Inherent, as well, within the concept of Com­ munity Facilities in Las Vegas is to develop a program of public services that will be economical and at the same time reflect the service needs and desires of the City's residents.

Theobjectivesforthisconceptmaybesum­ marized as follows:

- Distribute facilities and services throughout the city to provide con­ venient access.

OVERALL COMMUNITY FACILITIES CONCEPTS

-37-

COMMUNITY FACILITIES POLICIES

JOINT USE FACILITIES

- Continued coordination of planning of public agencies to share costs and avoid duplication.

- Continue to encourage citizen partici­ pation as one means of the identifica­ tion of community facilities needs and the development of community facilities

standards.

- Minimize costs of provision of community facilities and services.

- Insure adequate community facilities are available for private development to in­ sure that facilities are not overloaded and areas are not left unserved.

/

A key portion of the concept developed for the Community Facilities element revolves around the idea of multi-use community ser­ vice facilities located throughout the city. To accomplish this, the folloving policies have been developed:

- The city shall work closely with the School District to expand the Joint use of facilities as neighborhood pub­ lic service centers for information, recreation, and cultural activities.

- The city shall encourage development
of Joint facilities for police and fire service where activities can occur on a noninterfering basis.

- The city shall work with other public agencies and levels of government to develop multi-functional public ser­ vice centers in key locations throughout the community.

- These multi-functional public service centers will utilize as their core
activity a major public facility or service. Such activities may include a community college site, major library, performing

arts center, or governmental office center.

-38-

RESIDENTIAL PLANNING DISTRICT SERVICES

Within the neighborhoods outlined in the
Land Use element a number of neighborhood sup­

port uses are expected to occur. These include:

- Neighborhood park/recreation/service

centers
- Elementary school
- Neighborhood commercial uses - Churches
-Utilities

Many additional services, however, are neces­ sary but require a larger population serVice size than is envisioned within a single neighborhood of 3,500 to **,000 people. Many of these services, however, will be an im­ portant function of a Residential Planning District as described within the Land Use element. It is of little value to attempt

to precisely locate such services at this
time. Within the Precise Planning Process envisioned in the Land Use Element, specifica­ tions of those facilities should be delineated. As a guideline, however, Table I has been formulated which indicates the types of communityfacilitiesandgenerallocational criteria which should be included within the precise plans developed for each of the three types of RPDs. The following policies
apply:

- Within the Precise Planning Process the
city shall attempt to provide the necessary communityfacilitieswithinthevarious RPDs as indicated in Table I.

• -  Dependent upon the number of people anticipated within each of the RPDs, more than one of each of the facilities may be needed to provide sufficient service for that RPD. The precise planning process will utilize the service standards within Table I to determine the number of each facility needed for an RPD.

• -  Some community facilities require a larger servicepopulationthanwillbeaccommo­ dated in either an "A" or "B" RPD.

-39-

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MAJOR COMMUNITY FACILITIES

Thus, within the precise planning process, these community facilities will be allo­ cated as it becomes apparent that there
is a need for them even though the ser­ vice area will include more than one RPD.

There are a number of community facilities within the city which require a larger ser­ vice area than even the "A" RPDs. These city-wideormulti-districtservicesshould he distributed throughout the community in
a manner to best service the widest cross section of its residents. A number of these facilities are presently existing in the community. These include:

- Major governmental complex - Higher education facilities - Convention facilities
- Hospitals
- Libraries

Based on the Land Use Plan for Las Vegas, within the Land Use element there is little likelihood of the need for an additional major governmental complex or university. Additional libraries, hospitals and community college sites, however, are needed. Addi­ tionally, the city will, as it continues to grow, be capable of supporting a performing

arts center. The following policies are established as guidelines for the location of a number of additional facilities.

- The city supports the location of an additional, community college site in the general southwest area.

- The city encourages the development of a performing arts center as a part of the university area special activity center.

• -  The city supports consideration by the Clark County Library District of addi­ tional branch libraries in the expand­ ing portions of the community.

• -  The city supports the consideration of the feasibility of developing a multi­ purpose auditorium in close relationship to the downtown area of the city.

-hi-

COMMUNITY FACILITIES IMPLEMENTATION POLICIES

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAMMING

The importance of community facilities in shaping the growth and development of Las Vegas is well recognized. There is a con­ tinuing need for expansion of community facilities to improve services and to accommo­ date the growth within the urbanizing area.

Amajor issue in the provision of community

facilities is their cost and allocation

amongthecitizensofthecity.Additionally,

public and private development must be fully

coordinated in order to avoid duplication and

to assure a balance among need, services, and costs.

At the present time, the City of Las Vegas is in need of an effective Capital Improvements Programming Process. It is of major impor­ tance that this program be strengthened to better schedule public improvements within the framework of the City's present and projected urban area needs and financial capabilities.

The CIP is a major tool in the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, and an essential component in the orderly growth and develop­ ment of the city. It is also an important component in the overall decision making process of local government.

The following policies are established as a framework for the increased emphasis on a CPI within the city's planning process:

- A formalized CIP process shall be in­ stituted which effectively utilizes
the Community Development Department and the Planning Commission in the review and determination of capital improvements. Cooperation and coordi­ nation of all city departments is a
key element in the formulation of a capital improvements program which con­ forms with the goals and objectives of the city.

_k2-

COMMUNITY FACILITIES COSTS

- The Community Development Department
shall continue to work with the Clark
County Comprehensive Health Planning
Agency to locate additional hospital
facilities needed in Las Vegas. The city
has designated within its Land Use Plan Charleston Boulevard and Shadow Lane as a special activity center and supports the reinforcement of this area as a major
health complex. As additional hospitals
are needed in other portions of the community, the city supports the general guideline

of locating them near district commercial centers with good transportation access.

- The city shall study the feasibility of locating area wide "mini-City halls" at regional activity centers to increase convenience of informational and licensing services. The major "seat" of the govern­ ment will continue to be City Hall and

any mini-City halls would be supple­ mentary.

The costs of community facilities and the need to assure that these facilities meet the desires of the community suggest the following policies:

- The city shall continue to periodically survey residents to determine perceived levels of service for community facili­ ties and services and to identify short­ comings.

- The city shall, when appropriate, offer to extend its public service areas to other jurisdictions on a contract basis to provide more economical service areas and more revenues to service agencies.

- The city shall, when appropriate, con­ sider contracting with other entities

(as it does with the Clark County Library District) for the provision of various community services when the services provided are more economical, of superior quality, more available or accessible, orwillgenerallyservetheneedsofall or portions of Las Vegas.

-1*3-

DEVELOPMENT TIMING

The CIP shall be annually reviewed, up­ dated, modified and adopted.

- The city shall investigate the feasi­ bility of an automated CIP system to expedite the updating process, make the improvement and financial strategy more effective and consistent with the city's General Plan proposals. In so doing, this system should achieve the following:

1. Develop a process for monitoring, evaluating and revising all improve­ ment scheduling and costing.

2. Expedite the procedure for deter­ mining that projects are not under­ taken too soon, nor too late, thus insuring maximum benefits from coordination will be obtained through city investments in capital projects.

3. Encourage operating departments to quantify or rate the priority or non- priority determinants of projects by automating the procedure of weighing the order in which projects are pursued.

It. Develop an automated subsystem for long range financial planning and a periodic financial analysis.

5. Measure the benefits of federal finan­ cial assistance to the community. A computerized system can provide the means by which federal grant program improvements can be monitored and evaluated.

6. Develop a sophisticated system of cost/benefit analysis.

The city is well aware that if it is to develop in an organized, balanced manner, it is going to require that community facilities, as most utilities and street improvements, must be adequate to support that development. The following policies relate to that issue:

-kU-

The city shall require that all develop­ ment in accordance with other city plans and technical specifications, provide for the expansion of the necessary services to serve the needs of that development. Any

evelopment "that is not in accordance withcityplanswilladditionallyprovide

for the necessary modification of services to accommodate the unplanned demands.

The city shall not allow development withoutinsuringthatcommunityfacili­ ties and services will be available for

that development within the range of econo­ mic feasibility.

TRANSPORTATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE TRANSPORTATION CONCEPT

Page

TRANSPORTATION OBJECTIVES AND
POLICIES ll7

Improvement and Development of the
Streets and Roads System 1*7

Policies 1*8

Development of Alternative Modes
of Transportation 50

Policies (Bus Transportation) 50

Policies (Bicycle Paths) 51 TRANSPORTATION IMPLEMENTATION 52 CapitalImprovementsProgramming 52

-46-

THE TRANSPORTATION CONCEPT

Us I °^ USe pattern dictates its transportation system. In Las Vegas,

tatedafiliwdfSitydeveloPmenthasnecessi­ tyaflexibletransportationsystemdesigned

It re8identS betwee-a multitude of videspre^ origin and destination points.

couldmo^aUt7°bileProvedtobethesystemthat pflS +? easilY insure the efficient and

automobiTm °bility of Pe°Ple a°d goods. The automobile necessitated, in turn, the develop-

an extensive streets and roads system.

As the population grows in the future, there will be an increasing demand for facilities
to accommodate this mode of transportation. Thus, it is apparent that improving the streets and roads system to meet future demand isstillthekeyelementofanytransportation

system in Las Vegas. In addition, however, alternative modes to the automobile must be offered. The proposed transportation system is thus a far more balanced system in that the emphasis is being shifted from total reliance on, and accommodation to, the automobile to

attempting to improve the mobility of all resi­

dents of the community by offering several modes of transportation.

The City will continue to improve the existing streets and roads system and, at the same time, develop new routes where and when needed.
Increased automobile use, due in part because of the lack of any real alternative to the automobile, has resulted in traffic congestion at several points throughout the community. Technically,

traffic volumes have exceeded the street and road capacities. The City must continue to improve the existing automobile circulation system so as to maintain adequate street and road capacities in the face of mounting traffic

volumes in the future.

TRANSPORTATION OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES ~

IMPROVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STREETS AND ROADS SYSTEM

-1*7-

POLICIES

a. The City will continue to support the regional transportation planning efforts
of the Regional Street and Highway Com­ mission and the Clark County Regional Planning Council. Without this continued supportfromallofthegovernmental entities, it will be extremely difficult
to develop an adequate automobile circu­ lation system. The City will continue to take the initiative to insure that its
street and road improvement program is coordinated with similar programs of the surrounding governmental entities. Since many of the City's arterials are also State highways, similar cooperation and coordina­ tion will be pursued between the City and the Nevada State Highway Department.

b. The Regional Master Plan for Transportation is based upon the 1968 Coordinated General Plan for the Las Vegas Valley and indicates the required development of all arterials

in order to accommodate the projected traffic demand as a result of a Las Vegas Valley populationof700,000.TheCitywillcontinue to implement the guidelines of this Regional Master Plan within the confines of its limits. By doing so, effective and efficient auto­ mobile mobility will be insured in the

future. This policy statement implies that the impact of alternative modes on traffic volumesandstreetrequirementswillbe quitelimited.Thisimplicationcanbemade, because even if a significant percentage of transit growth occurred, the impact would

be slight because of the small base of current transit use in the City.

Additional Implementation Needs

The City presently has a number of street
and road improvements scheduled for completion by the year 1978 and which are in compliance with the Regional Master Plan for Transporta­ tion. Asadditionalgastaxrevenuesbecome available, additional street projects will be undertaken in accord with the Plan.

-1+8-

C. TheLandUseElementoutlinesspecificland use proposals within the City that call for increased activity over and above that anticipated in the 1968 Coordinated General Plan. Onceadopted,theCityshall
carefully examine these proposals and determine whether the existing Regional Master Plan for Transportation will adequately satisfy the trafficdemandtobecreated. Theintent

is to insure that the planned streets and roads system being implemented by the City will be able to accommodate the increased traffic volumes anticipated as a result of these changed land uses.

4. Prior to any major program to widen existing arterials, the City will investigate all alternative means of improving the traffic flow and thus increasing traffic capacities along these arterials at a lesser expense to the taxpayers. Traffic tends to become congested mostly at intersections where the signaling mechanisms are not designed to accommodate the increased volumes or where there is no allowance for turning lanes. These problems are particularly acute during peak travel periods. To improve automobile mobility, the following improvements will continue to be explored:

   —A computerized traffic signaling system which would allow for continuous flow and avoid excessive congestion.

   —The provision of more left turn signals and left turn lanes

   —The elimination of some intersections by means of diverting or channelizing traffic from some streets to others

   —A "no parking" policy along major arterials —The construction of median strips
   —The limiting of access to major arterials

   from adjacent commercial developments

5. The City will coordinate with the Union Pacific Railroad to determine the feasibility of providing additional grade separated railroad crossings, thus allowing for better east-west access within the community.

-1*9-

DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

Implementation Needs

Grade separated railroad crossings are needed at:

—Oakey Boulevard —Washington Avenue

The City will promote the development of alter­ native modes of transportation to the private automobile, thus increasing the mobility of all residents of the community.

Bus Transportation

At the present time, the only bus service in either the City of Las Vegas or the Las Vegas Valley is operated by the privately owned Las Vegas Transit System. The City of Las Vegas, therefore, has no direct control over the operation of this firm. However, the City does support the operation of the Las Vegas Transit System as an alternative mode of transportation and is desirous of the Sys­ tem's further development and improvement.

The following policies apply to bus trans­ portation:

a. If the existing bus system is to develop as a viable alternative mode, more and better buses are going to have to be acquired. Other improvements to the system such as shorter headways, covered bus tops, and published schedules are also required to attract potential riders.

b. Additional bus routes should be estab­ lished in order for the bus system to service a wider area of the community.
More specifically, bus service should
be made available to those residents of
the community that are presently in a mobility disadvantage because they are either too young, too old, or too poor
to own, operation, and/or maintain a private automobile. In developing an adequate

bus system, areas of high concentrations of young, elderly and poor should be iHpntifled as areas of high service need.

POLICIES

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c. Buses should also be routed to better serve major activity centers within the community such as regional activity cen­ ters, district commercial centers, special activity centers, major employ­ ment centers, and, of course, residential neighborhoods.

4. Certain buses along specific routes should be identified as express buses, thereby allowing riders rapid long distance mo­ bilitybyby-passingmanyintermediate stops.

5. More routes should provide essential cross town mobility by by-passing the downtown transfer point.

6. The City accepts the above policies as desirable bus service standards for a truly effective alternative mode. Al­ though the City supports the operations of the Las Vegas Transit System, if the

   City determines that the Las Vegas Transit System is unable to provide the level of service the City desires for its residents, the City will investigate the feasibility of other alternatives.

7. Regardless of whether the bus system is privately or publicly owned, the City will investigate the possibility of implementing certain traffic design features to allow for greater bus mobility such as:

   —exclusive bus lanes —exclusive bus loading areas.

Bicycle Paths

The following policies apply to bicycle paths:

a. The City will integrate its own Bicycle Route Plan '73 with those of surrounding governmental entities so as to develop a continuous metropolitan bike path network.

TRANSPORTATION IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMING

The hike path routing will be designed to connect parks and recreation facilities, schools, various public facilities, major employment centers, regional and district commercial centers, and cultural, historic, and scenic points of interest.

b. In developing a bike path network, a com­ bination of quiet, seldom used secondary streets, existing school walks, and planned park pathways will be utilized. If a bicycle path must be developed in conjunc­ tion with a major arterial, adequate additional right-of-way space may be

required in order to separate bicycle from vehicular traffic along these arterials.

c. In order to encourage the use of the bicycle path network, certain complementary facilities willbeconsidered.

d. The City shall continue their program of installing bicycle parking racks at public facilities including libraries, museums, and City Hall.

e. The City, in coordination with the School District,willdevelopacomprehensive public information program to increase public awareness of bicycle safety pro­ cedures to be followed by both the cyclist and the motorist.

f. Indevelopingthebicyclepathwaynetwork, particular care will be given to the design
of the facility. The intent of good design is to enhance the use of the pathway as well as to insure the safety of the users.

The City actively endorses the use of capital improvements programming as a means of imple­ menting the policies of the transportation plan. The strong relationship between land development and transportation necessitates a coordinated effort in the formulation of a capital improve­ ments program for transportation projects.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page CONSERVATION GOALS AND POLICIES 5I* OVERALL GOALS 51*

OVERALL POLICIES 5^ AIR QUALITY 55 NOISE CONSIDERATIONS 56 ENERGY CONSERVATION 58 WILDLIFE AND VEGETATION 58 FLOOD CONTROL 59 WATER AND WASTE MANAGEMENT 60

Water Resources 60 Waste Management 6l Recycling 83

SEISMIC AND OTHER GEOLOGIC HAZARDS Ox

-53-

CONSERVATION GOALS AND POLICIES

The Conservation Element, as an identified requirement of Nevada Revised Statutes

(NRS 278.160 l.(b)), attempts to deal with a broad range of issues in the areas of en­ vironmental protection and conservation. The element might more appropriately be termed an Environmental Management Element

(EME) and may be referred to as such through­ out this document.

The subject matter of the EMEwill be the following areas:

. Air Quality
. Noise Considerations
. Energy Conservation
. Wildlife and Vegetation
. Flood Control
. Water and Waste Management . Seismic Hazards
. Other Geologic Hazards

The following goals represent the commitment of the City of Las Vegas to the entire issue of environmental management.

. The City will work towards achieving a desirable balance of environmental, social and economic goals.

. The City will attempt to encourage and accommodate growth and development in a manner which enhances the quality of
life in the short term and preserves
the quality of life in the long term for future generations.

. The City shall not only be aware of en­ vironmental concerns in its daily activi­ ties, but also promote the communication of this awareness and concern to citizens throughout the City and Valley.

In working to accomplish these goals, the City shall:

.Utilizetheconceptofenvironmentalman­ agement whereby public agencies, including the City of Las Vegas, will play,a major

role in:

OVERALL GOALS

OVERALL POLICIES

-5U-

which ^ego?8PeCtS °f the envir°nment ich are of concern to the Vallev

and the individual communities. *

the environmentalinformation J decision making process

and asking the questions of if, When

—°V muc.h» and how environmental conditions might be changed by parti­ cular actions.

Insuring that both the natural and man-made environment are maintained,

enhanced and improved through public and private initiative.

. UtilizeexistingCityordinancesandState enabling legislation to achieve environ­ mental goals wherever possible.

. Playanactiveroleinworkingwithother agencies and citizens to establish and support environmental education programs which will increase citizen awareness of environmental concerns in general.

. Continuetoworkwithdevelopersand citizen groups for the achieving of the positive goal of a balance of environmental, social and economic conditions.

. Worktoformalizeanevaluationrelation­ ship between public agencies and City staff to conduct the evaluation of impact for specific projects and programs on which decisions must be made.

Begin the development of a comprehensive environmental data base that can be used as a common date resource for various en­ vironmental needs.

Air quality is of growing concern to all communities and particularly to the City of Las Vegas and the entire Valley.

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fOISE CONSIDERATIONS

thatall^AheHStiUes^f11;"^imperative attitudes tovard air quaiity^poiicie^and6

Centre°rly thC Coun^^deAirSlutien ontrol Agency to obtain and maintain an

acceptable and desirable level of air quality.

Air quality standards for the City shall be the same as those enforced by whatever agency is endowed with the authority to enforce air quality standards in Southern Nevada.

In addition to the foregoing, the following policies represent both a commitment of the City as to intent and specific actions to achieve the goal of establishing and main­ taining high levels of air quality.

The City shall use the analysis of air quality impact as a key part of its development review process.

The City shall actively promote the expansion of the transit system to better service the community and to help lessen the dependency on the automobile.

. The City shall participate with other agencies and jurisdictions to develop programs that will reduce air pollution from transportation sources.

The City shall prohibit industry that unduly discharges pollutants into the atmosphere from locating in Las Vegas.

Noise is a factor of modern society that we are only recently beginning to realize can becomeaformofpollution.Whilenotall noise is considered a nuisance or even harm­ ful, some is, and as our urban lifestyle in­ tensifies, we are finding greater conflicts between our living environment and the noises that we produce as a result of that environ- mpnt..

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Additionally, the City of Las Vegas is con­ cerned with the basic incompatibility of

J?!* C?lar coimnunity Unctions and land uses

h airport and major transportation activi- "tl6S•

While the City is not currently directly re­ sponsible for lands associated with the major airport facilities in the Valley, it may be more so in the future and wishes now to for­ malize policies to cope with such an eventu­ ality and also other general noise problems.

When realistic noise impact zones are developed from Nellis Air Force Base and McCarran Inter­ national Airport, the City will adjudicate the appropriate land use controls accordingly.

The following policies will apply:

. Unlessitcanbeshownthatprovisions
have been made to alleviate noise prob­ lems, the City shall prohibit development in areas of high noise impact where it
can be shown that noise levels are incompat­ ible with the proposed use.

. TheCityshallusegenerallyrecognizednoise standards as the criteria for evaluating impact and incompatibility.

. The City shall work with North Las Vegas, officials of Nellis Air Force Base, Clark County, and the McCarran International Airport Authority to insure that maximum efforts are undertaken to minimize noise impact of their operations on encroaching urbanization through the use of modifications to air operations and appropriate land use controls.

• .  TheCityshallusenoisereductionasone of the criterion in its equipment purchasing policies.

• .  TheCityshallreviewallnewindustrial development to insure that proper noise control procedures and equipment will be used for the welfare of both industrial workers and for adjacent uses.

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ENERGY CONSERVATION

The City of Las Vegas recognizes that the

conservation of energy has become a way of

life. The City realizes that it has an ob­

ligation to develop long term measures and

programs that will reduce, maintain and

minimize the growth in the demands for energy

in its own operations and those of the com­ munity.

Throughout this General Plan, policies have been developed to achieve particular goals. Many of those goals relate to convenience, lifestyle desires, economics, community ser­ vices, etc. Many also have the secondary effect of reducing the demands for energy consumption, primarily through promoting greater efficiencies.

Land use policies related to the develop­ ment of the Activity Center concept and the idea of commercial centers rather than the more typical "strip commercial" are designed not only for convenience, amenity and commercial services more directly re­ lated to their market areas, but also for their ability to reduce the travel demands and its associated costs, at least one of which is energy consumption.

Transportation policies that address the desire of the City to promote the expansion of the transit system to serve more of the travel needs of the entire community is done so to clearly provide an alternative to the automobile—a transportation mode that is becoming more costly and unavailable for a growing portion of our community. The City realizes that it takes more than desire to enhance the transit system so that it is therefore orienting many of its other poli­ cies—land use, community facilities, etc.—

to promote that system.

The Las Vegas Valley is not known for an
abundance of rare or unusual vegetation or wildlife.

WILDLIFE AND VEGETATION I

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The desert environment of the Valley does not promote the type of vegetation and wildlife that we normally associate with areas considered heavywithnaturalhabitat. Surveyshave concluded, however, that within the regional basin, 63 species of mammals, species of reptiles, 56 species of birds and several

hundred species of plant life can be found. Additionally, within the Las Vegas Wash and Bay, over 2U8 species of birds have been identified.

The City of Las Vegas believes that it is beneficial to the Valley that some portions of the Valley remain in their undeveloped state for the promotion of wildlife habitat and species. To that end the City shall:

. ContinuethedevelopmentofNaturePark as a "natural environment" regional park. The park, while not developed for active recreational purposes, will be developed with walking trails, for the benefits of education, observation and general enjoy­

ment in understanding the natural desert environment.

. WorkwithValleyagenciesandjurisdictions to maintain the Las Vegas Wash as a natural habitat area and to insure that development not encroach upon it in any way that would unduly disturb the habitat.

. WorkwithValleyagenciesandjurisdictions over time to up-grade the water quality flow in the Las Vegas Wash to promote the enhance­ ment of the lower part of the Wash as a limited wildlife preserve.

The basic policy guiding the development of the Flood Control Plan is for the development of a channelization program of sufficient size to

handle the quantities of flow generated by a 100-year storm.

The City of Las Vegas continues to endorse that policy and will actively participate with other Valley jurisdictions and agencies in the development of that system.

-59-

. TheCityhasestablishedthenecessary eligibility to allow homeowners to qualify for flood insurance under Department of nousing and Urban Development guidelines, and will continue to direct efforts toward maintaining that eligibility.

. TheCityshallrequirethededicationof rights-of-way for all required drainage
and flood control channels as identified on the Valley Flood Control Plan or with­ in the development review process and allow for the design and development of specified drainage and flood control facilities

as required by the City's subdivision regu­ lations, other City ordinances and by the development review process.

WATER AND WASTE MANAGEMENT Historically, programs of water and waste management have been centered on health and

Water Resources

safety factors. While this is still a para­ mount issue, the issue of scarcity of natural resources is surfacing to take on equal im­ portance in management programs.

Water, its availability and quality, may be one of the most critical environmental factors to the Las Vegas Valley. While natural water supplies and the Southern Nevada Water Project insure the ability of the Valley to continue to grow, limits do exist. The City of Las Vegas recognizes the very real facts of these

limitations and establishes the following objectives and policies as guides to its water and waste management program.

Promote private and public development in the City that is oriented toward efficient utilization of water resources.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply:

. TheCityshallencouragelandscapeplansfor new development to place a high emphasis on water conservation through the use of materials that are low water users and vegetation that
is indigenous to desert environment or semi- xerophytic in character.

-60-

Waste Management

mo+ 3 develop a suggested landscape materials list for use in public and private development planning. This list will be

eveloped to include landscape materials that will fulfill a wide range of land­

scaping needs and yet will be relatively low water users.

The City shall not allow development which would tend to create water runoff which might be of poor water quality such as
same types of industrial development, un­ less each development can successfully
treat liquid discharges from the develop­ ment to a point where they do not have a deleterious effect on community waste water treatment facilities.

The City shall support the completion of the Southern Nevada Water Project.

The City shall continue to cooperate and coordinate with the Las Vegas Valley Water District(LWWD)toassurethatadequate facilities for distribution of water are provided commensurate with the planned growth of the community.

. The City shall, in cooperation with other applicable agencies, participate in a pro­ gram to effectively monitor the use of water resources.

The City shall, in participation with other districts and agencies, re-examine the validity of public and private policy re­ lated to water demands.

Provide for adequate sewage and solid waste collection, treatment, disposal and manage­ ment systems and programs.

To achieve this objective, the following poli­ cies will apply:

. The City shall continue to coordinate development proposals with the ability of the existing and planned sewage system to handle the wastes.

-6l-

Development will not be allowed when it would create excessive demands on the sewerage system beyond those existing or planned for
in the City's adopted Sewerage Plan.

. The City shall cooperate with the Clark CountyDistrictBoardofHealthtoassure that adequate sanitary landfill sites are provided to serve the needs of the region.

. The City shall continue to require new developments to include facilities for conve­

nient solid waste disposal such as common trash pickup areas, individual trash holding areas, or other facilities that are accessible for disposal and pickup and placed in such a manner so as not to be a visual or physical nuisance.

The City shall continue through its code enforcement programs, to cite property owners that allow trash to accumulate on vacant or developed property.

The City shall with other jurisdictions and agencies, investigate the feasibility of developing local solid waste transfer stations.

• .  A Regional Solid Waste Management Plan being prepared by the Clark County Health Depart­ ment is in the final stages of preparation. This Plan, when adopted by the entities in the Valley, will serve to provide the basis for a Regional Solid Waste Management Program. The City will take an active part in the implementation of this Plan.

• .  The City shall continue in participation with other local agencies and water purveyors, and with the participation of the beneficiaries, to fill the existing deficiencies and future demands for water and waste management

  system using the following priorities:

  First Priority:
  Deficiencies in existing developed areas

  Second Priority: Fulfillfutureneedsintheareasof

  expected development.

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(

. The City shall, in participation with the other local agencies and water purveyors, attach an over-riding priority to those
areas now deficient because of health
hazard or flooding hazard due to deficiencies in the water and waste management system.

' Provide for the conservation of resources through the development of recycling programs.

To achieve this objective, the following poli­ cies will apply:

.

.

.

.

The City shall coordinate with other local agencies and jurisdictions for the estab­ lishment of a program to reclaim storm and waste water and make use of poor quality shallow groundwater for industrial, re­ creational and other uses.

The City shall continue to actively encourage and participate in the ongoing programs to recycle solid waste products such as glass, paper, tin and aluminum.

The City shall encourage the use of recyclable packaging materials for retail products.

The City shall utilize recycled products for its own operations whenever feasible.

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SEISMIC AND OTHER GEOLOGICHAZARDS

The result* ^

natural 4*"earth(luake or of other natural geologic processes are of little

marTmnH^ Until th°Se Processes affect man-made development. When man develops in

areas containing natural geologic hazards

i,Vnf Vefault'there is arisk that n earthquake may occur and cause property amage, loss of life, serious injury or loss

of vital services. When the way that man develops changes the natural geologic struc­ ture of an area, there is also a risk that
the change in geologic structure will jeopar­ dize buildings, lives and services. Minimizing the risks imposed either through developing in a hazard prone area or through creating

a geologic hazard by development is the basic goals to which the following policies are add­ ressed.

In order to implement thses policies there must be a substantial, amount of information about the geology of the Las Vegas region. Under the auspices of the Desert Research Institute many excellent studies have been done on specific subjects, such as subsidence. Other geologic hazards, such as the potential impact of regional fault activity on Las Vegas have not been adequately addressed. A study design for a Seismic Safety Element will be included as an appendix to the General Plan. Completion of that study will serve as one of the first steps in accomplishing the following policies.

The City shall:

. Encourage the United States Geologic Survey, the Nevada Bureau of Mines and the Soil Conservation Service to perform field surveys in the Las Vegas Valley needed to ascertain regional geology and soils condition and their response to regional fault activity.

. Develop a joint emergency disaster plan with the County and other cities in the Valley to specifically deal with an earth­ quake disaster. Prime considerations in this disaster plan would be emergency water and power supply, emergency communications, quick response to fire and other secondary effects of an earthquake and alternative transportation routes.

-61+-

As subsidence is the major geologic hazard
in the Valley, develop building code require­ ments which will aid in protecting structures against the negative effects of subsidence. Methods of controlling subsidence such as
water inportation should be identified, studied and implemented as appropriate.

Establish earthquake design standards for new construction in the local building code.

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PARKS a RECREATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE OVERALL PARKS AND RECREATION CONCEPT

PARKS AND RECREATION OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES

Metropolitan Planning for Parks and Recreation

Policies

Development of the Parks System on the Basis of Service Areas

Policies

Development of the Parks System on the Basis of User Needs

Policies

Continuation of the Joint-Use Program

Policies

Advanced Park Site Acquisition Program

Page

6 j

gT

67 68

68 68

69 70 71 71 72

Policies 72

Park Design 73

Policies 73

Specialized Recreation Facilities 7^

Policies 7^

Development of Special Interest/Purpose
Parks 75

Policies 75

PARKS AND RECREATION IMPLEMENTATION
STRATEGY 76

Parks Planning Process 76

-66-

THE OVERALL PARKS AND RECREATION CONCEPT

As the population of the City of Las Vegas grows, so also will the recreational needs of that population. Parks and recreational facilities will take on added importance as a means of relieving the mounting stresses and strains as a result of the complexities of increased urbanization. There will be greater demands for more park space and ade­ quate recreational facilities as leisure time becomes more critical. If these needs and demands are to be met, the local govern­ mental entities must plan now for their eventual achievement.

The Las Vegas Parks and Recreation planning effort is based upon two guiding concepts.
The concept of "service areas" suggests that parks are located to serve residents within defined areas. The second concept relates parks and recreation facilities to the needs of specific users of the City's open space.

The idea is that different age and income groups require different types of parks and recreation facilities. The City's parks and recreation planning effort will utilize these concepts in order to pro­ vide the fullest recreational opportunities to allresidentsofthecommunity.

PARKS AND RECREATION OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES

METROPOLITAN PLANNING FOR
PARKSANDRECREATION willbecoordinatedwithametropolitanparks

The City's parks and recreational facilities and recreation plan.

Because growth is occurring in the City and
other incorporated communities, as well as in
the surrounding County area, it is essential that
a regional approach be taken in the development
of parks and recreational facilities. A coopera­ tiveeffortamongthelocalgovernmentswill
insure an effective dispersion of park and recrea­ tional facilities, thus avoiding a situation where one Jurisdiction develops a facility to serve an area already served by an existing or proposed facility of another entity. This regional approach willhaveamoney-savingeffectontheresidents
of the Las Vegas Valley and the potential users of the parks and recreational facilities.

-67-

a. The City will insure that its parks and recreation planning efforts are coordi­ nated with the 1971 Regional Parks and Open Space Plan.

h. The City will continue to support and assist in the efforts of the Regional Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee of the Clark County Regional Planning Council to evaluate and update, if necessary, the adopted regional parks and open space plan.

DEVELOPMENTOFTHE TheCitywilldevelopasystemofparksand

PARKS SYSTEM ON THE BASIS OF SERVICE AREAS

POLICIES

recreational facilities based upon the concept of effective service areas for different types of facilities.

a. The City's parks and recreation system
is presently built on a hierarchy of facilities offering varying degrees, or levels of service. The hierarchy con­ sists of neighborhood parks, district parks, and regional parks. Built into this park hierarchy are specialized rec­ reationfacilitiessuchasgolfcourses, team sport fields, activity centers, and swimmingpools.TheCitywillcontinue to develop its system of parks on the basis of this hierarchy.

b. Each type of park within the hierarchial system has its own effective service area. The effective service area is de­ fined by the maximum distance that a majority of residents within an area

are willing to travel to use a park. The effective service areas used by the City of Las Vegas are as follows:

—Neighborhood park - the effective ser­ vice area of a neighborhood park is based upon the population density of the surrounding neighborhood. The

Las Vegas Land Use Plan identifies three types of residential neighborhoods, each with different allowable densities.

I

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARKS SYSTEM ON THE BASIS OF USER NEEDS

As the density increases, the effective service area of a park will decrease because of the increased number of users. Con­ versely, as the neighborhood density decreases, the effective service area will increase. It should be noted that the
need for neighborhood parks within low density areas is not as great as in the higher density areas. The low density development offers residents a considerable amount of open space and recreation area directly related to their individual
living environment. Thus, the development of neighborhood parks within low density areas will be given a lower priority than those in the higher density residential districts.

—District park - District parks are de­ signed to serve several different neigh­ borhoods. As a consequence, most people going to a district park will travel by automobile or public transportation rather than walking. Effective service areas for district parks are therefore larger than for neighborhood parks and not necessarily based upon population densities.

—Regional park - As with district parks, most users of regional parks will travel by vehicular means.

The City will develop parks and recreational facilities based upon the needs of specific present and future users, thus maximizing the utilization of the facilities.

The Las Vegas Valley consists of a predomi­ nately youthful population with almost two- thirds of the residents below the age of 35•
This tends to indicate a great need for "active" type recreational facilities such as playgrounds, tennis courts, golf courses, ball diamonds, and swimming pools. Assuming that the population will remain youthful, it is apparent that even

more"active"recreationalfacilitieswillbe needed to meet the future increased demand.

-69-

At the same time, the elderly population is
also growing quite rapidly and this trend is expected to continue as the Las Vegas area attracts more and more retired persons. These persons will require more "passive" recreational- facilitiessuchaspicnicareas,parkbenches, and centers containing card tables, TVrooms, and hobby programs.

a. The City will carefully examine the
effective service areas of each park, regard­ less of type, in order to determine the charac­ teristics of the service area population.
The intent of this examination will be to locate high concentrations of either the young or elderly and to then evaluate the appro­ priateness of the recreational facilities available to these specific users.

b. ImprovementswillbemadebytheCityto existing facilities if it is determined that these facilities are not currently designed to serve the specific users.

c. In developing any new park facility, the characteristics of the potential service areapopulationwillbecarefullyexamined by the City to insure that the facility will meet the needs of, and therefore be used by, the residents within the service area.

Facilities Needs

In areas of high elderly concentrations where more than 20 percent of the area popu­ lation is over 60 years of age

- There are six existing neighborhood parks that serve identified areas of high elderly concentrations. They are Meadows Plaza, John S. Park

joint use site, Mary Dutton, Huntridge Circle, Stearns, and Squires. Two of
these parks (Mary Dutton and Meadows Plaza) offer limited passive recreational faci­ lities in the form of picnic areas.

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3NTINUATI0N OF THE JOINT-USE PROGRAM

Squires Park, with its Senior Citizen Center, effectively serves its service area population. The three other parks,

(John S. Park Joint-use site, Huntridge Circle, and Stearns), however, do not offer passive recreational facilities to serve the elderly users. The facilities offered at these six neighborhood parks will he re-evaluated and more passive recreational facilities will be provided where necessary and possible.

The City will continue the Joint-use program with the Clark County School District.

Because Las Vegas has generally developed on
the basis of the traditional square mile neighborhood, the elementary school has
always served as the focus of that neighborhood. Utilizing the school site as a park merely strengthens that focus; the school/park area
can become a true neighborhood activity center designed for both "active" and "passive" recrea­ tional facilities and educational and avocational pursuits. This Joint-use program can also have the effect of clustering governmental services, thereby enhancing both efficiency and cost effectiveness.

a. In those areas of the community which
sure not adequately served by existing parks, the City will insure that land
is acquired in conjunction with elementary school sites. If land adjacent to an elementary school site is not available for acquisition by the City, the City will encourage the School District to set aside any undeveloped portions of the school site for park purposes.

b. In new growth areas of the community, the City and the School District will coordinate their planning efforts so that new parks and schools can be de­ veloped together in an activity complex.

POLICIES

-71-

ADVANCED PARK SITE ACQUISITION PROGRAM

The City will implement continuous programs of advanced park site dedication and purchase, within the financial capability of the City, in order to meet future park needs.

Utilizing the concept of effective service
areas, it is possible for the City to deter­
mine where and how much land should be set aside. Assuming that land values will continue to increase in the future, knowing where and how much land to acquire now for needed park space in the future
is economically advantageous. More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that an advanced dedication and/or purchase program prevents future develop­ ment from precluding the establishment of an adequate park system.

a. The City's dedication and purchase programs will be closely related to a determination
of present and future park needs. By doing so, park sites will be obtained when and where the need is, or will be, the greatest.

POLICIES

The City will insure that the Joint- use program sites are accessible to the residents of the effective service area

uring non-school hours. Too often, the

sites are closed when the schools are closed,

thus greatly limiting the utility of the

wv 711686siteswillbeviewedby both the City and the School District as

neighborhood parks that are to be accessible to the community during the evenings, on the weekends and holidays, and during the summer.

d.

-72-

The development of joint-use sites will be
in a manner similar to the development of allCityparks—onthebasisoftheneedsof the users. All of the existing joint-use
sites emphasize "active" recreational facilities. However, if these sites are to
be considered part of the park inventory, they

must be designed and developed to meet the

needs of the population within the service area.

PARK DESIGN

POLICIES

b. The City shall use various methods of ob­ taining land for neighborhood parks such as encouraging developers to dedicate land
for this purpose, utilization of Federal Aid when possible, utilization of the general fund of the City and the advisability of a mandatory dedication or building permit recreationfeewillbeexplored.

c. To obtain land for district and regional parks, the City will first determine those areas where these types of parks are needed and will then locate and purchase available land for park development within the park deficient areas.

The City will insure that greater detail is given to park design during the development of park sites.

Too often, parks are designed without any attempt to integrate the separate sites into an integrated park system or to enhance the attractiveness of the individual sites. If the parks are to

receive maximum utilization, efforts must be made to insure that utilization.

a.Greatcareandattentionwillbetakento accommodate bicycle and pedestrian traffic within the park design and to connect the City's parks by means of a network of bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways. Because neighborhood parks are designed especially

to serve the residents of the surrounding area who may travel the park on foot or by bicycle, all efforts will be made to provide for the safe and convenient access of these service area users to the neighborhood park sites.

b. Small, scattered parcels of land within residential areas that are not usually considered for park development according tothehierarchialstandardscanandwill bedevelopedanddesignedasmini-parks, where and when feasible.

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SPECIALIZED RECREATION FACILITIES

POLICIES

c. An inter-disciplinary design team com­
prised of staff members from the Depart­
ment of Community Development, Public
Works and Park and Recreation, under the leadership of the Department of Community Developmentwillbeformed. Thisteamwill
be concerned with the technical aspects of the design of sites being developed for parks

and other public areas. Citizens' input into the design shall be coordinated through the Park and Recreation Advisory Board.

The City will insure the provision of an adequate number of recreational facilities such as swimming pools, golf courses, and tennis courts throughout the City.

a. In order to insure the adequate provision of recreational facilities, the City will use

the following standards as a general guide:

- one swimming pool per 25,000 population - one l8-hole golf course per 150,000

population
- one ball diamond per 6,000 population
- one tennis court per 2,000 population

b. The City will apply these standards to the existing park inventory in order to evaluate the adequacy of the provision of these specialized facilities. If deficiencies are noted, the City will rectify them by means
of providing such facilities at either existing or developing park sites. Although a city-wide deficiency may exist for specific facilities, the location of these active recreational facilities will be based upon

the characteristics of the population within the service areas of individual park sites.

Special Needs

The Clark County Regional Planning Council esti­ mated that in 1973 the population of the City
of Las Vegas was approximately 135,000. Applying the facilities' standards that the City will utilize to this population estimate, the following deficiencies can be noted:

'

-Jk-

Facility Swimming Pools Golf Courses Ball Diamonds Tennis Courts

Existing 8

Standard Deficiency

Facility
Ball Diamonds Tennis Courts

Total Number Lighted
33 19 1^ H6 9 37

In order to eliminate these special needs, the City will:

- Develop additional tennis courts to satisfy current deficiencies.

• -  Continue to develop special recreational facilities in order to keep pace with demand.

• -  Maximize the utilization of these facilities by lighting some for night-time use and/or enclosing others for year-round use.

1
33 2h —

L6

In addition to the deficiencies in the provision
of specialized recreational facilities, some of these existing facilities are not receiving maximum utilization. For example, all eight swimming
pools are outdoor, lighted facilities. Although

night-time use is encouraged, year-round use is not. The following table illustrates that the case is similar with the other specialized facilities:

DEVELOPMENTOFSPECIAL TheCitywilldevelopspecialinterest/purpose Dn^EST/PUEPOSE PARKS parts having sducational a^d recreational value

for the residents of the community.

a. TheCitywillcooperatewithvariousprivate^ POLICIES andpublicagenciestopreserveknownhistorical

and archaeological sites, such as the early Paiute Indian campsite on Valley View Boulevard smith of the Las Vegas Expressway.

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6 1

70 2h

—

—

Non-Lighted

PARKS AND RECREATION IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

PARKS PLANNING PROCESS

b. The City shall encourage the preservation
of areas of unique scenic beauty or natural environment. The preservation of Nature Park on Mojave Road south of Bonanza Road is a good example. A network of trails will be developed at these sites so as to enable the community to more fully enjoy what these special parks have to offer. However, development at these sites will be limited

so as not to destroy the natural attractions.

c. The City will develop Squires Park and/or a new park site in the central business district as an urban park designed for the use of those who work and/or conduct business in the down­ town area. Adequate passive recreation facilities such as picnic tables and park benches, attractive landscaping, and innovative design are critical elements in attracting

potential users of this type of specialized park and will thus be provided.

The City recognizes the need for a coordinated effort among those departments most directly concerned with the planning of parks and recrea­ tional facilities. To achieve the desired coordination, a Parks Planning Committee will be formed, composed of the directors of the Community Development, Parks and Recreation Departments. This committee will have two responsibilities:

1) to evaluate sites considered for possible eventual development as parks in light of
the policies of the City's Parks and Rec­ reation Plan and specific parks needs, and
2) to prepare the capital improvements pro­
gram and capital improvements budget in order
to insure that planned improvements to existing parks or development of newly acquired sites are made. The committee's recommendations concerning acquisition and/or development of specific sites

will be forwarded through the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee to the Mayor and City Commission for final action. The committee will meet on an annual basis to evaluate, and modify if necessary, the parks and recreation capital improvements program and to formulate the annual operating "budget of park-related projects.

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In addition to the Parks Planning Committee, a more technically oriented interdisciplinary design team will be formed to insure the satisfactory design of individual sites that have been designated by the Parks Planning Committee for development as parks.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

VISUAL ENVIRONMENT GOAL 79 Solid Waste Disposal 79 Air Pollution 80 Water Pollution 80 Commercial Clutter along Arterials 80 Proliferation of Commercial Signs 8l Monotonous Residential Development 8l Vacant Parcels 8l

Unattractive Traffic Arterials 82 Industrial Uses 82 Poor Park Design 83 Design Review and Guidelines 83 CentralBusinessDistrict 8U

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Page

VISUAL ENVIRONMENT GOAL

The goal of the Visual Environment Element
is to enhance the visual attractiveness of
the environment of the City of Las Vegas.
This goal will be realized, in large part, through the implementation of the policies of
the other elements of the General Plan. The following listing of visual environment policies is divided into several areas of visual concern to the City; those policies that are incorporated in other elements of the General Plan but which have the effect of enhancing the visual environ­ mentofthecommunitywillbereferencedby element and policy number.

Provide adequate solid waste collection, treat­ ment, disposal and management systems.

To achieve this objective, the following policies willapply:

. The City shall cooperate with the Clark County District Board of Health to assure that adequate sanitary landfill sites are provided to serve the needs of the region.

. The City shall continue to require new de­ velopments to include facilities for convenient solid waste disposal such as common trash pickup areas, individual trash holding areas, or other facilities that are accessible for disposal and pickup and placed in such a
manner so as not to be a visual or physical

nuisance.

. The City shall continue through its code enforcement programs, to cite property owners that allow trash to accumulate on vacant or developed property.

. The City shall continue to actively encourage and participate in the ongoing programs to recycle solid waste products such as glass, paper, tin and aluminum.

Solid Waste Disposal

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Air Pollution

Establish and maintain high levels of air quality.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply.

The City shall use the analysis of air
quality impact as a key part of its development review process.

The City shall actively promote the expan­ sion of the transit system to better service the community and to help lessen the depen­ dency on the automobile.

• .  The City shall prohibit industry that unduly discharges pollutants into the atmosphere from locating in Las Vegas.

• .  Air quality standards for the City shall be the same as those enforced by whatever agency is endowed with the authority to enforce
  air quality standards in Southern Nevada.

  Establish and maintain high levels of water quality.

  To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply. The City shall:

  . Work with Valley agencies and Jurisdictions to maintain the Las Vegas Wash as a natural habitat area and to insure that development not encroach upon it in any way that would unduly disturb the habitat.

. Work with Valley agencies and Jurisdictions over time to up-grade the water quality flow in the Las Vegas Wash to promote the enhance­ ment of the lower part of the Wash as a limited wildlife preserve.

Water Pollution

CommercialClutter Enhanceexistingandnewcommercialuses. AlongArterials Toachievethisobjective,thefollowing

policieswillapply:
. See Commercial Policies, Land Use Element,

Page 2h.

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Proliferation of Commercial Signs

. The City will continue to require landscaping for all new Planned Commercial Centers.
Such landscape will strive to create a pleasing appearance from the street and will insure

that it is adequate to serve as buffers to adjacent incompatible uses.

Planned Commercial Centers will be designed and reviewed with visual appearance as one of the evaluation criteria.

. The City will encourage existing commercial centers to initiate landscaping programs.

Reduce the visually unattractive proliferation of commercial signs.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply.

. The City will perpetuate adequate Outdoor Sign Ordinances that use visual impact as one of the evaluation criteria.

. The City will continue to investigate the feasibility of developing a more attractive and unique municipal signing system.

Improve the visual image of Residential neighborhoods.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply.

. The City will encourage innovative design and landscaping in all new residential subdivisions.

Reduce the unattractiveness of isolated patches of the desert within the urban area.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply.

. Small, scattered parcels of land within residential areas that are not usually considered for park development according to the hierarchial standards can and will be developed and designed as mini-parks, i.rv<ar>o nnH when feasible.

Monotonous Residential Development

Vacant Parcels

I

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Unattractive Traffic Arterials

. TheCityshallrequireallvacantparcelsto be maintained free and clear of trash, junk and weeds, and shall cite property owners
who do not comply through the Code Enforcement Program.

Improve the image of the major arterials within the City.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply.

The City will continue its landscaping program along all major arterials where feasible; the City will promote the developing of land­ scaping programs along portions of State and Federal highways and freeways.

. The City will investigate the feasibility of installing attractive street furniture such as benches, kiosks, and fountains along specific arterials or other key locations in the community.

Reduce the adverse visual impact of industrial uses.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply.

Industrial areas are confined to those areas as shown on the Land Use Plan.

. Asmuchaspossible,industrialareasshall be developed in accordance with modern principles of "industrial Park" development,

including:

- A basic street and utility pattern which will permit flexibility in the size of industrial sites available.

- Maintaining options for the extension of rail spur lines to sites which do not border directly upon the mainline.

Industrial Uses

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- The availability of a basic system of streets, including adequate access to
the Interstate 15 or other major exterior oriented arterial without forcing traffic through residential areas.

- A complete set of"performance standards".

- Evidence of continuing management re­ sponsibility to enforce restrictions

established under the original develop­ ment plan.

The City will explore methods for adequately screening, fencing or landscaping existing industrial uses which are deemed unsightly.

Improve the design of existing and planned parks so as to enhance their visual attractive­ nessandencouragemaximumutilization.

To achieve this objective the following policies will apply.

. An inter-disciplinary design team comprised of staff members from the Department of Community Development, Public Works and Park and Recreation, under the leadership of the DepartmentofCommunityDevelopmentwillbe formed. This team will be concerned with the technical aspects of the design of sites being developed for,parks and other public areas. Citizens' input into the design shall be coordinated through the Park and Recreation Advisory Board.

Institute a development design review process which will Insure that design quality and visual impact is used in the evaluation procedures for development proposals.

To achieve this objective, the following policy will apply.

. The Department of Community Development shallreviewallsubdivisionandrezoning cases from a technical standpoint, and shall be responsible for providing to the Planning Commission information on the related impact of the proposed development.

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Central Business District

It will be the function of the Planning Commission to make a determination on any project as to whether or not a more detailed Urban Impact Statement is needed to be
prepared. In general, the Planning Commission should be able to identify the scope of impact of most projects from staff of the Department ofCommunityDevelopment. However,whenthe scope of the project is of sufficient magnitude, the Planning Commission may require the developer to prepare a more detailed Urban Impact Statement.

Strengthen the importance and enhance the attractiveness of the downtown area.

To achieve this objective, the following policies will apply.

. TheCitywilldevelopSquiresParkand/ora
new park site in the central business district as an urban park designed for the use of those who work and/or conduct business in the down­ town area. Adequate passive recreation facilities such as picnic tables and park benches, attractive landscaping, and innovative design are critical elements in attracting potential users of this type of specialized

park and will thus be provided.

. TheCitywillcontinuetodevelopaPrecise Plan for the downtown area.

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•

IMPLEMENTATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION POLICIES 86 Planning Process 87 Precise Planning Process 88 Additional Implementation Study Needs 89

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GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION POLICIES

While many of the goals and standards and policies contained throughout this document are desirable and exciting in their potential for giving us a high quality living environ­ ment that meets all the needs of the people of Las Vegas, unless they can be implemented they are almost worthless. They are simply unachievable goals in the process of building our community.

The City of Las Vegas wishes to see its goals achieved and commits itself to working toward their achievement. Such a commitment must establish both in intent and in fact a coop­ erationbyallsegmentsofthecommunitytoward

their achievement.

The issue is the community. The growth and development of the community, although done
in small increments, must be consistent with the needs and desires of the entire community. When this is the case, the entire community will benefit. When this is not the case, only individual or special interests will benefit— the community will lose. While the City of

Las Vegas will take all measures to insure a sensitivity to goals and desires of individuals, it will at the same time evaluate the conse­ quences of any action to the community as a whole. In the long run, such a decision making processwillbenefitbothindividualandthe community.

When we are dealing with a set of physical,
social and economic relationships of the com­ plexity that are contained in a metropolitan
area such as Las Vegas, it is inconceivable
that we might be able to develop a set of im­ plementation policies that would be adequate toanticipatealltheneedsandcircumstances
from now for forever. The success of imple­ mentation policies can only truly be measured
by experience. From the lessons learned in experience, we must modify our policies to capi­ talize on our successes and eliminate our failures, knowing that we will then have new successes but also probably new failures.

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Recognizing these problems and opportunities the City of Las Vegas commits itself to an on-going planning process that does not stop with the adoption of these policies, but

rather begins with their adoption. We do
not fully know our future. Additionally,
we only know generally the type of future we thinkwewant.Forthisreason,ourplanning process is flexible so that it can adjust as

our future unfolds.

The following implementation policies repre­ sent an adjustment from those that we have used previously< We expect to adjust them

again.
PTANNINGPROCESS Thefollowingpoliciesarethosethatrelata

PLANNINGPKUCEbb

^^ iaplementationoftheplanningprocess

in general. Other more specific policies are covered elsewhere or in a later portion of this Implementation Element.

The City shall conduct an annual Development
' Review Process wherein the Planning Commission

with the assistance of the staff from the Department of Community Development
prepare an analysis of development activity

inthepreviousyear.Thereportwillbe presented to the City Commission along with recommendations from the Planning Commission on policy and program changes that will e

necessary to correct difficulties that have

ariseninthepastyear.Thereportvil1 additionally describe progress in the overall planning process and outline the planning

programs for the coming year.

Every five years the Planning Commission
shall conduct an analysis of development activity over the previous five years and determine whether the entire General Plan and its policies is meeting the needs of the community. If a re-assessment of the Genera

Planar portions of it is determined necessary, the Planning Commission will forward sucha recommendation to the City Commission along

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PRECISE PLANNING PROCESS

The General Plan is exactly as the name implies— general. It establishes the framework within which decisions are made regarding growth and change in the community. It is not a "cookbook"

that gives an answer for every circumstance. Inallcases,judgmentwillberequiredby the decision maker. The General Plan should provide a strong basis for making judgment decisions.

It is possible, however, for the planning pro­ cess to give a more detailed basis for judgment, particularly when it is applied to smaller geographical areas or to special conditions that may exist only once in the community (e.g. the

University) or in unique circumstances.

Upon adoption of this General Plan, a definition ofpreciseplanningareaswillbeundertaken immediately as a prelude to the beginning of
the Precise Planning Process.

The major objective of the Precise Plan is to deal in depth with small or specialized areas of the community to better define the types
of land use and other functional relationships

that should occur. Additionally, the Precise PlanswillenablelogicalneighborhoodstoDe defined as an aid to the implementation of the

Neighborhood Concept described in the Land Use Element.

The Precise Planning Process will^generally be conducted according to the following outline:

I. Establish a planning and timing sequence for development of Precise Plans

II. Establish a communications forum with citizens, interest groups, individuals and governmental agencies for each Precise Planning Area (PPA) as the planning

process is begun for that area

III. Identify the "role" of the PPA relative to its own internal objectives and to the community as a whole

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IV. Develop a PPA planning information base V. Develop alternative concepts for the PPA

VI. Select desired concepts and develop a Preliminary Precise Plan

VII. Develop a Refined Precise Plan

VIII. Determine any modifications that 'will be necessary because of the Refined Precise Plan to:

- the existing General Plan - urban infrastructure plans

. utilities
. schools
. other public services and

facilities
. transportation

IX. AdoptthePrecisePlan
X. Adopt changes to other plans as required

Development Evaluation

In addition to meeting the policies and standards established in the various elements of the
General Plan, the City of Las Vegas wishes to utilize the concept of "urban impact" as an additional basis for project evaluation. While additional guidelines will need to be established,

particularly with regard to when such a Statement of Urban Impact may be required, in general the intent of the process is to insufe that any proposed project will not adversely or_abnormally impact environmental conditions, municipal

finances, social conditions, city services, or other issues.

To facilitate such an evaluation capability, the Department of Community Development shall review all subdivision and rezoning cases from a technical standpoint and shall be responsible

for providing to the Planning Commission informa­ tion on the related impact of the proposed development.

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It will be the function of the Planning Commission to make a determination on any project as to whether or not a more detailed Urban Impact Statement is

needed to be prepared. In general, the Planning Commission should be able to identify the scope of impact of most projects from staff of the Department of Community Development. However, when the scope of the project is of sufficient magnitude, the Planning Commission may require the developer to prepare a more detailed Urban

Impact Statement.

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