SB393 - Revises the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act. (BDR S-701)

EXEMPT (Reprinted with amendments adopted on June 2, 2025) THIRD REPRINT S.B. 393 - *SB393_R3* SENATE BILL NO. 393–SENATOR NEAL MARCH 17, 2025 ____________ Referred to Committee on Revenue and Economic Development SUMMARY—Revises the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act. (BDR S-701) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No. Effect on the State: No. ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to housing; revising the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act; clarifying the boundaries of the Windsor Park neighborhood for the purposes of determining eligibility to participate in the program established by the Act; revising certain requirements to be eligible to acquire a new single-family residence under the Act; authorizing certain owners of vacant lots in the Windsor Park neighborhood to exchange the vacant lot under the program; revising provisions governing the property taxes levied on a single-family residence acquired under the Act; revising provisions governing real property transfer taxes imposed on the transfer of such a residence; revising provisions governing the development of a park to memorialize the residents of the Windsor Park neighborhood; revising provisions governing the use of certain money for the purposes of the Act; extending the reversion date of appropriations made for the purposes of the Act; making an appropriation; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law contains the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act, which 1 establishes a program for the relocation of persons residing in the Windsor Park 2 neighborhood of the City of North Las Vegas whose residences have been damaged 3 by the sinking of the ground beneath the residences. (Chapter 531, Statutes of 4 Nevada 2023, at page 3538) Under the Act, the Housing Division of the 5 Department of Business and Industry is required to establish and administer a 6 – 2 – - *SB393_R3* program by which the owner of a single-family residence in the Windsor Park 7 neighborhood who owns the residence on July 1, 2023, may exchange the residence 8 in the Windsor Park neighborhood for a new residence constructed in accordance 9 with the Act. (Section 9 of chapter 531, Statutes of Nevada 2023, at page 3540) 10 This bill makes revisions to the Act. 11 Section 1 of this bill clarifies the boundaries of the Windsor Park neighborhood 12 for the purposes of determining the owners of single-family residences or vacant 13 lots who are eligible to participate in the program. 14 Section 2 of this bill: (1) requires that to be eligible to participate in the 15 program, an owner of a single-family residence or vacant lot in the Windsor 16 Park neighborhood must have owned that single-family residence or lot on 17 December 31, 2023, rather than July 1, 2023; (2) authorizes a person who is the 18 owner of a vacant lot in the Windsor Park neighborhood and who was the owner, or 19 is the descendant of the former owner, of a single-family residence on that vacant 20 lot in the Windsor Park neighborhood to participate in the program by exchanging 21 the vacant lot for another vacant lot in an area as near as reasonably practicable to 22 the Windsor Park neighborhood; (3) authorizes a person who resides in the 23 Windsor Park neighborhood to establish that he or she is the owner of a single- 24 family residence or a vacant lot in the Windsor Park neighborhood and, thus, 25 eligible to participate in the program, by executing an affidavit, under penalty of 26 perjury, and presenting certain other documentation to establish inheritance of the 27 property; (4) provides that until July 1, 2057, a single-family residence acquired 28 pursuant to the Act is entitled to an abatement of a certain amount of property taxes 29 levied on the single-family residence; (5) provides an exemption from taxes on the 30 transfer of real property for certain transfers of a single-family residence pursuant 31 to the Act; (6) requires the Housing Division to file for record a certificate creating 32 a lien on the single-family residence acquired pursuant to the Act to secure 33 repayment of the amount of assistance provided by the Housing Division to pay off 34 any existing mortgage on the single-family residence in the Windsor Park 35 neighborhood if the new residence is sold within 5 years after the time of the filing 36 of the certificate; (7) limits the amount of assistance provided to pay off a mortgage 37 on a single-family residence in the Windsor Park neighborhood to the pay off 38 amount on May 25, 2025; and (8) requires the entity selected to develop and 39 construct a single-family residence pursuant to the Act to be engaged to perform 40 certain additional work related to the project, without formal bidding under existing 41 state law, including, without limitation, demolishing the homes in the Windsor Park 42 neighborhood for the purposes of creating the park required under the Act. 43 Section 3 of this bill: (1) requires that in addition to transferring the proceeds of 44 certain bonds to the Division, the City is required to transfer the interest on those 45 proceeds to the Division for the purposes of the program; and (2) removes the 46 requirement for the Division to pay moving expenses and restitution to owners of 47 single-family residences in the Windsor Park neighborhood from certain 48 Community Development Block Grant funds transferred to the Division and, 49 instead, authorizes those funds to be used by the Division to pay relocation 50 expenses for certain owners and tenants. 51 Section 4 of this bill provides that money appropriated from the State General 52 Fund for the purposes of the Act reverts at the end of the 2025-2027 biennium 53 rather than at the end of the 2023-2025 biennium. 54 Section 4.5 of this bill appropriates $26,000,000 from the State General Fund 55 to the Housing Division for the purposes of the Act. 56 – 3 – - *SB393_R3* THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Section 8 of the Windsor Park Environmental 1 Justice Act, being chapter 531, Statutes of Nevada 2023, at page 2 3540, is hereby amended to read as follows: 3 Sec. 8. “Windsor Park neighborhood” means the area of 4 the City lying north of West Cartier Avenue, west of Clayton 5 Street, east of Chamberlain Lane, and south of West Evans 6 Avenue. The area includes single-family residences and 7 vacant lots on the south side of West Cartier Avenue and 8 otherwise within the area defined in this section. The area 9 also includes single-family residences and vacant lots west 10 of Chamberlain Lane and on West Cartier Avenue, Sommer 11 Court, Hayworth Avenue or Stanton Drive. 12 Sec. 2. Section 9 of the Windsor Park Environmental Justice 13 Act, being chapter 531, Statutes of Nevada 2023, at page 3540, is 14 hereby amended to read as follows: 15 Sec. 9. 1. The Housing Division shall establish and 16 administer a program pursuant to which the owner of [a] : 17 (a) A single-family residence in the Windsor Park 18 neighborhood who owns that residence on [July 1,] 19 December 31, 2023, may exchange that single-family 20 residence for another single-family residence constructed in 21 accordance with this section. 22 (b) A vacant lot in the Windsor Park neighborhood who 23 owned a single-family residence in the Windsor Park 24 neighborhood that was formerly located on that vacant lot, 25 or the descendant of such an owner, and who owns that 26 vacant lot on December 31, 2023, may exchange that vacant 27 lot for another vacant lot in an area as near as reasonably 28 practicable to the Windsor Park neighborhood in 29 accordance with this section. The owner or descendant of 30 such an owner must be offered the opportunity to exchange 31 a vacant lot in Windsor Park for a vacant lot that is located 32 in the Cibola Park area of the City and that is available to 33 be exchanged in accordance with any agreements between 34 the City, Clark County and the Housing Division, before 35 being offered any other vacant lot. 36 2. For the purposes of the program established 37 pursuant to this section, a person may establish that he or 38 she is the owner of a single-family residence or a vacant lot 39 in the Windsor Park neighborhood on December 31, 2023, 40 by: 41 – 4 – - *SB393_R3* (a) Executing an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that 1 he or she acquired title to the single-family residence or 2 vacant lot from a deceased relative by operation of law; and 3 (b) Presenting to the Housing Division, or the 4 governmental agency, nonprofit corporation or other entity 5 selected by the Housing Division pursuant to subsection 3, 6 any of the following evidence of ownership: 7 (1) An original deed, deed of trust, bill of sale or land 8 installment contract; 9 (2) A current property tax bill and proof of payment 10 of property taxes for the immediately preceding 15 years; 11 (3) A certified copy of a will naming the applicant as 12 heir to the property along with a death certificate or other 13 evidence that the applicant is the heir to the property and 14 documentation establishing that the applicant has been 15 residing in the single-family residence or has acted as the 16 owner of the vacant lot for the immediately preceding 15 17 years, including, without limitation, property tax bills or 18 utility bills; or 19 (4) Any other evidence indicating intent to own the 20 single-family residence or vacant land on or before 21 December 31, 2023, if the applicant was unable to acquire 22 ownership on or before December 31, 2023. 23 [2.] 3. The Housing Division shall apply for any 24 available grants of money from the Federal Government to 25 carry out the provisions of sections 1 to 9.7, inclusive, of this 26 act and shall select a governmental agency, nonprofit 27 corporation or other entity engaged in the development of 28 affordable housing to develop single-family residences on 29 vacant land [adjacent] in areas as near as reasonably 30 practicable to the Windsor Park neighborhood. The 31 governmental agency, nonprofit corporation or other entity 32 selected by the Housing Division pursuant to this subsection 33 shall, in accordance with a financing agreement entered into 34 pursuant to subsection [5,] 6, contract with qualified 35 professionals for a study of vacant land adjacent to the 36 Windsor Park neighborhood that could be acquired to ensure 37 that such land will not subside, acquire vacant land adjacent 38 to the Windsor Park neighborhood if the study finds that such 39 land will not subside and enter into contracts to develop and 40 construct single-family residences on that land. In awarding 41 such contracts, a preference with a relative weight of 5 42 percent must be assigned to an applicant that is a business in 43 which at least 50 percent of the interest is owned by a resident 44 or former resident of the Windsor Park neighborhood. Any 45 – 5 – - *SB393_R3* restriction on the price which the Housing Division may pay 1 to acquire a parcel of real property does not apply to an 2 acquisition pursuant to this section. 3 [3.] 4. The number of single-family residences 4 constructed pursuant to this section must be sufficient in 5 number to enable each [household residing in] owner of a 6 single-family residence in the Windsor Park neighborhood on 7 [July 1,] December 31, 2023, to obtain such a single-family 8 residence, and the single-family residences constructed 9 pursuant to this section must enable [a household residing in] 10 an owner of a single-family residence in the Windsor Park 11 neighborhood on [July 1,] December 31, 2023, to obtain a 12 single-family residence with at least the same amount of 13 square footage as the residence in the Windsor Park 14 neighborhood. The number of vacant lots acquired pursuant 15 to this section must be sufficient in number and size to 16 enable each owner described in paragraph (b) of subsection 17 1 of a vacant lot in the Windsor Park neighborhood who 18 owned a vacant lot in the Windsor Park neighborhood on 19 December 31, 2023, to exchange the vacant lot in the 20 Windsor Park neighborhood for a vacant lot with at least 21 the same number of acres as the vacant lot in the Windsor 22 Park neighborhood. 23 [4.] 5. The City shall grant the employees and 24 representatives of the governmental entity, nonprofit 25 corporation or other entity selected by the Housing Division, 26 and the Housing Division, access to any right-of-way owned 27 or controlled by the City and access to any lots owned by the 28 City within the Windsor Park neighborhood when such access 29 is necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, and the 30 City shall not unreasonably withhold such access. 31 [5.] 6. The governmental entity, nonprofit corporation 32 or other entity selected by the Housing Division pursuant to 33 subsection [2,] 3, the City and the Housing Division shall 34 enter into an agreement to finance the development and 35 construction of single-family residences pursuant to this 36 section. The agreement must require: 37 (a) The use of money appropriated or authorized by the 38 Legislature to the Housing Division for the purposes set forth 39 in this section. 40 (b) Any other money from any public or private source, 41 including, without limitation, any gift, grant, appropriation or 42 contribution, available to be used for the purposes set forth in 43 this section. 44 – 6 – - *SB393_R3* [6.] 7. Upon the issuance of a certificate of occupancy 1 for each single-family residence constructed pursuant to this 2 section, the owner of a single-family residence in the Windsor 3 Park neighborhood who owns that residence on [July 1,] 4 December 31, 2023, may exchange that single-family 5 residence for a single-family residence which was constructed 6 pursuant to this section and which has at least the same 7 amount of square footage as the residence being exchanged. 8 If the single-family residence being exchanged is: 9 (a) Encumbered by a mortgage or deed of trust, the 10 single-family residence may not be exchanged unless the 11 existing mortgage or deed of trust is paid in full. The Housing 12 Division shall provide assistance to arrange any financing 13 necessary to pay off [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]