Nevada bill to aid minority owners of sinking homes advances

LAS VEGAS — A measure to put up $30 million in state and city funds won initial backing Thursday from Nevada state lawmakers to help homeowners move from a once-segregated North Las Vegas neighborhood where geologic features made homes crack, sink and sometimes become unsafe. Democratic state Sen. Dina Neal, the bill sponsor, also called for North Las Vegas officials to explain how more than $14 million that she said had been allocated in the late 1990s to help residents in the Windsor Park area has been spent. They’re still seeking help,” Neal said as she read into the legislative record North Las Vegas City Council minutes from 1993 and city budget documents entries since 2015 about Windsor Park — a middle-class tract of 241 homes built to accommodate Black families during an era of housing segregation. Three North Las Vegas officials testified, including the city finance director and a spokeswoman, Candace Townsend, who acknowledged that “geological faults and groundwater withdrawal issues Windsor Park not suitable for the rebuilding of houses.” Neal’s bill, dubbed the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act, would have the city put up $20 million and the state put up $10 million to pay for 90 remaining homeowners to move to comparable single-family homes of similar size and value at today’s prices. I don’t want to leave my kids with a bill to pay, because I have taken care of everything.” Neal pointed to a letter titled “Windsor Park History” that Wilson received from North Las Vegas officials, postmarked September 2022.