Development rules reviewed

Brett Sperry, understandably, has plenty of nice things to say about the city of Las Vegas.

His recently completed Brett Wesley Contemporary Gallery in the Arts District had the support of Mayor Oscar Goodman and Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese and even garnered a Mayor's Urban Design Award earlier this month. He is looking to build another building in the same neighborhood.

Sperry also participated in a study looking at the efficiency and responsiveness of the city's permitting process, which potentially affects everything from installing a new water heater to building a casino. It found serious flaws, and Sperry said he understands why.

While about 85 percent of the people he dealt with in getting his building approved were "clear and consistent" in checking his plans and approving permits, the remainder who weren't caused serious headaches. Combined with problems with a contractor and his own unfamiliarity with the system, those headaches delayed his gallery for a year and cost him an extra $200,000.

"There were a few individuals who were unclear, were irritated to help, and on a few occasions were belligerent," Sperry said. "Ultimately, these people exist to serve the city. It has to be a culture of merit and results."

The report, prepared by Kirchhoff and Associates and presented to the City Council this month, faults the city's development review process on many fronts. And more is at stake than frustrated permit-seekers, the report said. In an environment where development has slowed to a trickle, the city cannot afford to have a difficult building process.

"Unless the city of Las Vegas re-engineers its development review process, and the organizational culture surrounding it shifts from enforcement to customer enablement, it will not be competitive with other Las Vegas Valley jurisdictions for land development growth," the report said.

The city already is at a disadvantage, according to a letter from the Las Vegas chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Other local governments "provide a more development-friendly process," states the letter, which is signed by Executive Director Randy Lavigne and Chairman James Stroh.

"Simply said -- it is less expensive to develop projects outside of the city of Las Vegas than within its boundaries."

City leaders know that future development is at stake.

"We agree that we need to take steps now to remain competitive in the region," said Deputy City Manager Jim Nichols, who oversees the city's offices of planning and development, public works, building and safety and fire and rescue. Those departments, along with business licensing, ensure that projects meet relevant code and safety standards.

"We want to be the destination of choice," Nichols said. "We want developers to say, 'It's easy to develop in Las Vegas, and that's where we want to be.'"

The city has a lot to do to get there, according to the analysis, which noted shortcomings such as not having a comprehensive manual that explains the entire process, inconsistent land use opinions from the city attorney's office, lost or misplaced plans, and a general lack of predictability and consistency from the departments involved in approving projects.

The report lists 95 recommendations for improvement, including reconciling the codes used by the building and planning departments so that conflicts don't arise and allowing the Planning Commission to approve most special use permits -- exceptions to land use rules -- instead of requiring a vote by the full City Council.

One of the main problems is "pronounced silo mentalities," according to the report. There isn't enough coordination between departments, which are effectively isolated from one another and have no motivation to work together.

Work on implementing the recommendations is already under way, Nichols said, and the goal is for customers to notice improvements in the process by year's end. It should take less time to get an application approved and city staffers should do a better job of guiding applicants through the process, instead of operating in a more "gotcha" mode focusing on mistakes an applicant makes.

During the building boom, "time to fix the system didn't exist," according to the report: "There has been so much development in the city of Las Vegas that the staff didn't have the time or resources needed to focus on making the system more efficient."

Developers accepted those shortcomings because of demand and chalked it up to the price of doing business.

"There was so much demand backed up in the pipeline that they were pretty much willing to accept time delays, inconsistent code application, poor process management, personal preferences by the staff and lost documents as the price they needed to 'stay and play,'" according to the report.

That environment probably won't exist again, even when the economy recovers. The analysis says Las Vegas must be ready to compete with other jurisdictions.

The fact that Las Vegas is looking to compete could be good for builders, said Irene Porter, executive director of the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association.

She noted that the valley has a uniform building code and public works standards, but interpretations of some rules can differ.

"Those differences can make a difference," Porter said. "It costs money to do some of those things. It costs money to go through the lengthy process.

"The more you can do to shorten the process, the more you can do to make it customer-friendly. It could lower the cost of building."

Some progress already has been made, she said. Building officials have been meeting to work out more uniform interpretations of the building code, and "we've made a lot of improvements in the last few years."

Sperry also has noticed changes, possibly brought on by the economic downturn and the dearth of new projects.

For those who do want to build something, he said, the city has started adopting an attitude that says, "Let's not haggle over a parking space, or a palm tree."

Cliff Evarts would have appreciated that approach when he was building his Vegas Weddings chapel on the corner of Bonneville and Third streets.

The building was substantially finished in February 2008, but he wasn't allowed to open because the sidewalks weren't done. Yet, he noted, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in nearby Symphony Park is open even though sidewalks aren't in and the building isn't finished.

"That's not an unusual story," said Nichols, the deputy city manager. "That doesn't make it right."

The city needs to do a better job of explaining those discrepancies, such as when different standards apply or the rules have changed.

Evarts pointed to other problems with his project. He had to redo soil samples several times and was told to install expensive fittings in his catering area that a subsequent inspector told him weren't necessary.

Originally, a single wheelchair ramp was built on the front sidewalk leading to the street, which he was ordered to replace with two ramps -- one heading west and one heading south. However, the other three corners of the intersection, which was recently redone, have only one wheelchair ramp each.

"We're on the tail of the dog, and being on the tail end of the dog we get whipped back and forth trying to figure out what to do," Evarts said. "If we didn't have the resources to stick with it, we wouldn't have been able to complete the project. I'm never going to build another building in Las Vegas."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.