No vote taken on proposal to prevent F Street closure

CARSON CITY -- Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford proposed a plan Friday to prevent the closure of F Street by using $70 million in city of Las Vegas redevelopment funds.

Objections were quickly raised.

"This funding source is not the way to go," Las Vegas City Councilman Ricki Barlow told the Senate Government Affairs Committee. "We need to vet this more in the community."

Barlow said the redevelopment funds now are being used for libraries, community centers and other projects. He said he opposes the street closure but said another solution is needed.

Horsford, D-Las Vegas, had asked the committee to amend Assembly Bill 304, which would preserve historical neighborhoods, to require the city's redevelopment agency to provide funds to keep the street open.

"The city has used redevelopment funds for strip clubs," Horsford said. "It can use them to keep a street open."

No action was taken on Horsford's amendment.

A lawsuit has been filed by residents to stop the closure. Some residents believe the street was closed to wall them off from downtown.

At the Friday committee meeting, Scott Adams, city operating officer for the city's redevelopment agency, said the agency does not have the kind of money that Horsford wants to spend to keep the street open.