Planning panel backs moving East Las Vegas redevelopment area to city council after blight study

The City of Las Vegas Planning Commission voted to recommend that City Council establish a new redevelopment district in East Las Vegas after staff presented a blight study and a redevelopment plan for the roughly 1,350-acre area bounded by Owens Avenue, Nellis Boulevard, Charleston Boulevard and 21st Street.

Tracy Reich, redevelopment manager in the Office of Economic and Urban Development, and Alex Strausser presented findings from the field inventory and a toolbox of incentives for property owners. Reich said the neighborhood assessment identified visible deterioration on about 64% of properties and noted 80% of buildings in the area were built before 1999. Reich told commissioners the study highlighted vacant lots, deferred maintenance and circulation problems that limit reinvestment. "These kinds of issues can create a domino effect," Reich said, describing vacant parcels and illegal dumping as contributors to decline.

Staff framed the redevelopment area as a mechanism to target tax-increment resources locally, expand infrastructure upgrades and offer programs such as visual-improvement rebates (recently increased from $25,000 to $50,000), tenant-improvement incentives for retail and a multifamily renovation program for buildings with five or more units. Alex Strausser summarized that redevelopment funds generated within the new area would remain dedicated to that neighborhood, an element commissioners said was central to neighborhood trust in the process.

Commissioners pressed for clarity on timing and the typical 30-year sunset for redevelopment areas; staff said plans can be amended or an areas timeframe extended by council action. "I wanted every dollar that got generated from this neighborhood to get reinvested back in this neighborhood," one commissioner said in support of creating a separate district rather than expanding existing RDAs. Commissioner Rogan moved that the commission find the proposed area meets the statutory definition of blight and recommend approval of the redevelopment plan; the motion carried. The items will be scheduled for City Council on July 15.

Next steps: the commission forwarded the blight finding and redevelopment plan to City Council; if council approves, the redevelopment area designation would enable the city to begin program implementation and pursue projects to capture private reinvestment in East Las Vegas.