Las Vegas has big plans for ‘fast-growing’ Kyle Canyon area

There are big plans for the northwestern portion of the Las Vegas Valley over the next quarter century, including thousands of new home and a major resort-casino by Stations Casinos.

And now the city of Las Vegas is asking for residents’ input on how the master-planned community of Kyle Canyon should be developed. The city released a detailed draft plan in December which looks to guide future development as the community could add roughly 14,500 new housing units over 411 acres over the next 25 years.

The Kyle Canyon area has about 13,291 residents and 3,894 single-family houses and is expected to have 47,063 residents and more than 10,000 new total housing units by 2050. The city’s plan also includes nearly 640,000 square feet of new commercial square footage.

“Much of Kyle Canyon will see the eventual build out of medium-low density suburbs currently under development agreements utilizing traditional neighborhood development,” the plan states. “New shopping centers will continue to be constructed at major interchanges and have potential to become neighborhood mixed-use centers, especially at the Kyle Canyon and Skye Canyon Park interchanges.”

The city said Kyle Canyon’s growth will center around housing and mixed-use developments while looking to develop the community as a hub for both working and living.

“Small-scale commercial centers will be constructed at the Kyle Canyon and Skye Canyon Park interchanges, but major jobs and commercial activity are needed in order to reduce commuting and provide shared coworking space,” the city’s plan reads. “At least one new major resort-casino will be constructed as part of Skye Canyon’s Gaming Enterprise District.”

It’s unclear when Stations Casinos will build a casino-hotel in Kyle Canyon. A spokesperson said there’s no update on the project.

Challenges to development

In its draft plan for developing Kyle Canyon, the city admits there are significant challenges to building out the area of the valley which spans a wide array of industries.

“Kyle Canyon severely lacks public schools of all forms,” the plan states. “New schools will be constructed over time and several will be under construction near-term to alleviate school overcrowding.

“Kyle Canyonlacks major city and regional facilities; those may be required as population thresholds are met,” the plan states. “While some private services are currently, or will be, provided, the low-density environment of the district highlights a need for a greater presence of city services and community resources.”

In a video released by the city, Councilwoman Nancy Brune, who represents Ward 6 including Kyle Canyon, said accessing land from the federal government will be key to growing the area. Real estate stakeholders on both the commercial and residential side who spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal said the BLM remains the biggest roadblock to development in the area as they control approximately 88 percent of Clark County.

“As many people know, the Bureau of Land Management owns a lot of public land all around the city and we have quite a bit up in wards four and six,” Brune said.

In a press release for the final master plan, the city acknowledged there are also challenges regarding basic infrastructure needs that need to be created to accommodate the growth.

“The fast-growing Kyle Canyon area is near the Spring Mountains and Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument,” reads the release. “It contains undeveloped land that will require significant public infrastructure and public service upgrades, including street improvements, new water service, fire and public safety and a new northwestern regional park.

A recent Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development study estimates that by 2030 Nevada will face a severe land shortage that will hamper economic development across a wide array of industries as Clark County is adding approximately 115 residents a day to its population. Clark County should break 3 million residents sometime before 2050, and by 2080 the population is expected to be somewhere around 3.4 million.

The City Council could vote on the plan for Kyle Canyon at its regular meeting in February. For more information, visit the city’s master plan website or email masterplan@lasvegasnevada.gov.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.