Legislative proposals would nudge, aid municipalities toward infill development

Tens of thousands of square feet of vacant lots and commercial properties sit empty in the Las Vegas and Reno metro areas. Proposed legislation attempts to help tackle the state’s housing crisis by establishing a process to rezone them as residential. 

State lawmakers are considering multiple proposals that would empower cities to more aggressively encourage infill development to address Nevada’s shortage of affordable and available units.

Assembly Bill 241, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Sandra Jauregui, is designed to spark development of more multi-family housing, and require counties to speed up the process to rezone land currently designated commercial use into residential or mixed use. 

“Many commercial properties, particularly aging strip malls and vacant office buildings, are underutilized,” Jauregui said during the bill’s hearing in March. “Repurposing them for housing makes better use of existing infrastructure. Building homes closer to jobs, schools and public transit reduces commute times, lowers greenhouse gas emissions and decreases urban sprawl.”

The bill, which passed the Assembly on a party line vote earlier this month, is directed toward the state’s most populous counties, Clark and Washoe, and would give them until Oct. 1, 2026 to adopt an ordinance that allows for a more expedited rezoning process. 

Under the legislation, if a buyer purchases a commercial property and wants to build multi-family housing on it instead, they could seek swift approval rather than go through a lengthy rezoning process, Jauregui said. 

A recent analysis by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern and the regional planning collaborative known as Southern Nevada Strong identified 78,285 acres as “vacant or underutilized land,” most of it — 85% — vacant.

The bill is scheduled to be heard Wednesday in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.

The legislation’s supporters included the Nevada Conservation League and the Nevada State Apartment Association. 

However, the Nevada Association of Counties, along with Clark and Washoe counties, opposed the legislation.

“There are some commercial areas where multi-family or mixed-use (zoning) may not be appropriate,” said Ashley Kennedy, a lobbyist with Clark County, adding the county wants to retain “the ability at the local level to determine” when to quickly rezone without state legislation mandating it. 

Kennedy said that the county supports infill development and hasn’t denied any application for a multi-family project since 2022. 

She added that during that timeframe there were 39 applications for multi-family projects approved, and 21 of those applications were in commercially zoned areas.”

Cadence Matijevich, a lobbyist with Washoe County, warned the bill would produce “unintended consequences” and could “upset the balance of land use in our community” by requiring some commercial projects to be rezoned as residential. 

“Nevada cannot afford to let outdated zoning laws and people who oppose density continue to be the reason we are stalling housing production,” Jauregui said. 

Efforts to promote infill development come as state lawmakers, some members of Nevada’s Congressional delegation and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo have pushed for stepped up sales of federal land development. 

Assembly Joint Resolution 10, also sponsored by Jauregui, would ask the federal government to pass the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, commonly referred to as the Clark County Lands Bill.

The bill passed the Assembly 36-6 on April 17. Six Democrats — Assemblymembers Natha Anderson, Venicia Considine, Tanya Flanagan, Selena La Rue Hatch, Cinthia Moore, and Howard Watts — voted against the resolution.

Democratic Rep. Dina Titus recently took issue with state lawmakers voting for the resolution  and denounced the federal bill, saying nothing in the legislation mandates that any of the land must be dedicated to affordable housing. The bill would only make land available “to developers to build more homes that average Nevadans cannot afford,” Titus said. 

AB 241 isn’t the only bill that could lead to more infill development.

Senate Bill 28, legislation being brought by the City of Las Vegas, would create “tax increment areas” in which a portion of future property tax revenue would be used to pay interest on bonds used to finance  affordable housing development as well as public transit.

Much of the city’s development over the next 25 years “will consist of infill and redevelopment within existing neighborhoods, Seth Floyd, Director of Community Development for the City of Las Vegas, told the Senate Government Affairs Committee during a hearing on the bill in lawmakers during the bill’s hearing in March.” 

SB 28 passed the Senate 17-4 on April 17. Republican Sens. Carrie Ann Buck, Robin Titus, Ira Hansen and John Ellison voted against the bill.  

Funding supportive housing

Lawmakers are also considering allocating general fund dollars to aid housing development, including $250 million proposed by Lombardo.  

Any proposal seeking to allocate any funding could face serious setbacks after the Economic Forum meets Thursday, when it will set final budget limits that legislators and the governor must meet when they approve a budget for the upcoming biennium. 

Uncertainty and anxiety driven by Donald Trump’s trade war and the resulting fallout have prompted widespread projections of not only a slowing economy, with many observers projecting the chance of a recession has increased substantially in recent weeks.

Assembly Bill 366, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno, would appropriate $25 million from the state general fund to supportive housing initiatives throughout the state. The Nevada Housing Division would determine the projects eligible to receive those dollars.  

Permanent supportive housing projects are subsidized for populations with significantly low or no income, such as folks experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, and comes with case management and wrap-around support services. 

Brooke Page, the Nevada director of the Corporation for Supportive Housing, said funding supportive housing for unhoused people is more cost effective than the alternative.

The organization conducted an analysis for Northern Nevada last year that found eight days in the emergency room, three months in jail, and one year in supportive housing with rental assistance and warp around services all cost the same. Page said. 

“It makes more sense to house people, ensure they have the services they need to improve their mental health, their physical health, and gain access to employment than it does to continue to allow people to cycle in and out of high-cost systems,” she said. 

Not only do developers struggle to find financing for supportive housing, funding for operational support and tenant services is also limited.

State lawmakers in 2023 allocated $30 million from the state’s general fund to permanent supportive housing projects. 

AB 366 seeks to strengthen the program.

During its first hearing in March, Monroe-Moreno said though the state “doesn’t have any money” allocating funds for permanent supportive housing was a priority Lombardo also identified during his budget proposal, she said. 

The bill has not advanced out of its first house but is exempt from legislative deadlines.