NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Residents in a historic North Las Vegas neighborhood may be getting help relocating for an unusual reason: their homes are sinking.
Nevada State Sen. Dina Neal is co-sponsoring a bill that would provide people who live in the area with a relocating program.
Channel 13's Abel Garcia spent the day in the Windsor Park neighborhood to find out what this could mean for residents.
Edward McCall has lived in this historically black neighborhood since 1966.
McCall showed our crew the cracks and damage inside of his home, saying his family needs help immediately.
In order to help residents like Edward, Sen. Neal is proposing the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act. She says it would help residents in the Windsor Park neighborhood be relocated to a different area.
Sen. Neal says back in the mid-1960s, this historically black neighborhood of roughly 230 homes was built during a time of unofficial segregation in Las Vegas by a private developer.
She says the developer did not conduct a thorough investigation of the land. In 1989, a study discovered the neighborhood was built over geological faults and an aquifer.
And now, 57 years after initial construction, the land continues to sink.
State and city leaders in North Las Vegas have been using federal dollars to provide assistance to residents and help them relocate.
Edward McCall is still living in his home and says for years he has had to deal with damages.
"The roof sinks down in the middle, the whole house sinks down in the middle, I have to go down there and jack the house back up into place."
If passed, the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act would allow residents who moved in prior to the findings of the geological inspection in 1989 to exchange their damaged homes for a new home built near the same neighborhood.
Residents who moved into Windsor Park after the discovery and are paying a mortgage will receive help from the federal housing division to pay off their loan.
Tomorrow at 1 p.m., a hearing is set to take place on the bill.
Channel 13 will be there and have an update for you including reaction from the City of North Las Vegas and state leaders about their efforts to provide relief to the residents of Windsor Park.
