Nine months' worth of citizen surveys, committees and public meetings paid off Jan. 5 when the Las Vegas City Council unanimously approved the Northwest Open Space Plan designed to balance growth and development with open space conservation in the northwest Las Vegas Valley.

City planners and consultants have been working with residents and prospective land-user groups since April to draft the strategic plan, which will help determine the development of 50 square miles north of Cheyenne Avenue, west of Decatur Boulevard, east of the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area and south of Moccasin Road.