Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019 | 2 a.m.
Henderson planners hope a Regional Transportation Commission-led study will reinvigorate development in the area around the Galleria at Sunset mall.
The Livable Centers Study was launched by the RTC last year to create more walkable, mixed-use spaces, increase public transportation choices, improve economic development and enhance the environmental quality of the area, according to the commission website. The planning program is modeled after similar ventures in the Houston and Atlanta metropolitan regions, and is meant to incentivize jurisdictions to research ways to revitalize communities.
The Galleria at Sunset area was identified by the RTC as having a mixture of undeveloped and developed parcels with 110 acres of vacant land north of the mall and enough existing infrastructure for infill development and increased connectivity, according to Henderson officials.
“There is also the mall and several businesses with different commercial uses around Henderson residents and others in the valley,” said Alejandra Fazekas, a planner in the city’s Community Development and Services Department. “We realize there are employment centers already in place, but we feel it also has potential for future development and redevelopment in the big, vacant parcel.”
Fazekas said another goal is to eventually make the area “more vibrant” and bike-friendly.
“We want to create a sense of place in the area, and we would like to encourage walkability and community activity as well as provide those connections between those centers to make Galleria at Sunset mall a community space with community amenities,” she said.
Staff will enlist help from Asakura Robinson — a planning, urban design and architecture firm — while developing its study plan. The study will be funded by the federal Unified Planning Work Program.
Fazekas said planning will take about a year to complete. From there, the findings will lay out the groundwork for future development.
Last year, the RTC partnered with North Las Vegas to launch its first Livable Centers Study in the Deer Springs District, a 2.5-mile stretch from North Fifth Street to Pecos Road. The study is now in the final stages of the planning process, said Johanna Murphy, North Las Vegas principal planner. The study area has the potential for more trail and open space opportunities as well as more housing choices, she said. “In order to develop areas to support higher capacity transit, we need a certain amount of residential units and jobs,” she said. “Within the study, we developed a comprehensive network for a pedestrian and bike facility with strong connection to I-215 Beltway Trail.”
Murphy said the city plans to present its study findings to community stakeholders later this month.
