County councilors Tuesday passed a temporary emergency ordinance removing a loophole in county code that allows developers with projects near busy intersections to avoid paying for road improvements.
Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Horne proposed the change after the loophole came to light after neighbors complained about a recent development project near Northeast 182nd Avenue and Fourth Plain Boulevard.
Horne said that the issue needed to be addressed before other development is approved with the same loophole in place.
Normally, developers whose projects will impact traffic can either delay development until the county makes road improvements or developers can offer a mitigation that returns the traffic in the area to pre-development standards, Horne explained at the meeting.
However, there are exemptions for intersections, one of which Horne said has faulty wording.
The exemption states that if a project’s traffic volume-to-capacity ratio exceeds 9/10 during peak traffic periods, then the exemption applies. However, Horne explained, that doesn’t work when traffic is so backed up that few cars can even make it through the intersection during peak hours.
“Unfortunately, the way the exemption is written, the exemption always applies,” Horne said at the meeting. “We thought it was important to immediately get this ordinance to the board for consideration and potentially, if the board approves it, to extend that exception to give council sufficient time to determine whether a re-write of the ordinance is required.”
The council unanimously voted in favor of adopting the immediate temporary change. Councilors are expected to discuss making the change a permanent one within 60 days.
Councilors also all agreed to fund an additional budget of just over $15,000 to replace two sally port doors at the Clark County Jail.
The doors, described as large commercial doors that work similar to garage doors, allow the secure transport of arrestees into custody by letting police vehicles into and out of the intake bay.
The doors and operators have been repaired many times throughout the years, but have reached the point that they need to be replaced, according to a staff report submitted by the Clark County General Services.
“It is just a matter of time before they stop working or fail and hit a vehicle,” the staff report states.
