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Tuesday, April 27, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
County likely to seek special status for street
State officials have the final decision on whether Hollywood Boulevard ought to be designated as scenic.
By Steve Friess
Review-Journal
Clark County commissioners are expected next week to say hooray to Hollywood Boulevard, backing a measure to persuade the state to christen the one-time lover's lane as a state scenic byway.
Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury is pushing for a resolution on the May 4 agenda that would support the Sunrise Manor Town Advisory Board's efforts to apply for the designation for Hollywood.
Once it gets the county's blessing, the town board can apply to the Nevada Department of Transportation. A panel would do a site visit and score the road based on a system that considers its cultural, historical, scenic and archaeological significance. If the road received a certain score, Transportation Director Tom Stephens would ask the state highway board to issue the designation.
The process could take as little as two weeks to complete, although a state official said Monday he doubted the road would pass without some of the significant improvements the county is considering.
Some of the less savory sites of Hollywood -- a wastewater treatment facility, gravel pits, a truck-parts yard and a Nevada Power Co. substation -- might sidetrack the application, said state byways chief John Whitaker.
"Based on my experience of Hollywood Boulevard as it is today, I'd have to say I don't know if it would pass the state review," Whitaker said.
If approved, Hollywood Boulevard would join Clark County's other seven scenic byways, which include Red Rock Canyon Road, Kyle Canyon Road and the Strip.
"It has the potential to qualify," said Woodbury, one of five commissioners who represents a portion of Sunrise Manor. "It's a beautiful area up there. The view is unbelievable to the east where the mountains are and to the west, where you can see the whole community."
Proponents point to a list of attractions along the Las Vegas Valley's east-most north-south artery that includes the Mormon Temple, Sunrise Mountain and the planned wetlands park to be built south of Flamingo Road.
To further boost the application, Commissioner Mary Kincaid wants the county to buy the Donald Reynolds Mansion at the southwest corner of Hollywood and Bonanza. Kincaid hopes the move would preserve the historic home of the late founder of the Donrey Media Group, which owns the Review-Journal, and turn it into a cultural and recreational center.
Commissioners will vote May 4 on whether to spend $5,500 on an appraisal of the 15-acre estate, which has been priced at about $8 million. Woodbury expressed reservations about buying the mansion because of the cost, but Kincaid said it's worth getting an appraisal and seeing if the current owners, Denver Square Trust, are willing to make a deal.
Advocates of the scenic byway are motivated as much by what exists now as by what might be there in coming years.
Town board president Michael Dias said he hoped a scenic route designation would thwart the county's plans to pave the road into a six-lane thoroughfare between Charleston Boulevard and Lake Mead Boulevard. The road now seesaws between two and four lanes in that section.
The Sunrise Manor board has voted four times since 1994 to urge the county commission to support the idea, including a unanimous vote in November. Until now, the board received no response from commissioners.
But Woodbury said it is only now that the county is ready to take a serious look at what to do with Hollywood. While the review is under way, public works officials are heeding the cry of residents not to build out the road to a six-lane road because traffic does not warrant that.
Instead, county staff is considering paving only the Charleston-Lake Mead section as a four-lane road. That would leave another 20 feet of public right-of-way along the west side for trees and trails.
The trails would start at Shadow Rock Park, near Carey Avenue and Los Feliz Street in the extreme northeast corner of the valley, said Parks and Recreations Director Glenn Trowbridge. They would wind along Hollywood Boulevard, link into a possible regional park east of Hollywood between Charleston and Sahara Avenue, then continue past the end of Hollywood into the wetlands park.
None of these projects has an identified funding source, so proponents hope that landing the scenic designation from the state could open up a portion of the $24 million in federal funds available to scenic byways each year.
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