Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Final Historic Westside Design Guidebook presented; staff to take draft to city council
Summary
KME Architects and consultants presented a final design guidebook for the Historic Westside, outlining form‑based guidance, historic research, and outreach. Staff said the final draft will be forwarded to the City Council and posted on city planning resources and the Centennial site.
KME Architects and historic‑preservation consultants presented the Historic Westside Design Guidebook at the July 28 meeting of the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial, describing recommended design approaches for infill and preservation in West Las Vegas.
Melvin Green of KME Architects and Olivia White, the project’s historic preservation consultant, said the guidebook documents the area’s historic architecture, summarizes oral histories and outreach, and offers guidance tied to the West Side form‑based code. “The purpose of the design guidelines is to provide guidance for development in Historic West Las Vegas,” White said, describing recommendations on materials, storefront patterns and porch treatments.
Project boundaries, the consultants said, run from Owens Avenue on the north to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the west, Interstate 15 on the east and Interstate 11 on the south. The guidebook focuses on architecture of the 1940s through the 1960s, recommends use of character‑defining materials such as decorative concrete block and concrete masonry units, and includes case studies for Jackson Avenue with guidance for mixed‑use ground‑floor retail and upper‑floor housing.
Consultants emphasized compatibility with the city’s form‑based code and said the document is intended to guide — not mandate — design responses for new infill construction. “We used the historic research to pull out characteristics and encourage them,” Green said, showing examples of decorative breeze block, porches and storefront patterning.
Community outreach, the team said, included focus groups, events and canvassing; the consultants credited UNLV’s Oral History Research Center and other partners for interviews and archival work. Michael Howe of the Department of Community Development told commissioners the guidebook will appear on the Historic Preservation webpage and be referenced within the West Side form‑based zoning materials so that developers and property owners can access the recommendations during project planning.
Why it matters: The guidebook provides a local design framework intended to preserve neighborhood character while allowing contemporary infill compatible with West Side precedents. Staff indicated the final draft will go before the City Council for adoption and will be posted as a resource for applicants and the community.
What’s next: Staff will route the final draft to City Council for action and post the guidebook on the Historic Preservation site with a hyperlink from Centennial materials.
