In order to learn how to cope and plan for growth in his community, Peter Dowling, who represents Victoria Point and Coochiemudlo Island within the Redland Shire in Australia, visited 30 planned communities across the United States, including Nevada Trails and Summerlin.

"Our shire is the third fastest growing community in Queensland, top 10 in Australia. We are under incredible pressure to provide rezonings to provide for future growth. I don't believe the current practices have delivered sustainability, which is why I felt it was worth visiting the U.S. to look for alternatives," Dowling said via e-mail. Dowling also is chairman of the shire's development assessment committee.

Victoria Point and Coochiemudlo Island are part of the Redland Shire (similar to a U.S. municipality) in Queensland (roughly comparable to a U.S. state) on the east coast of Australia; to the north is Brisbane City.

The Redlands is a rapidly growing area with a population of more than 124,500 that is expected to increase by more than 40,000 people in the next 10 years, according the shire's Web site.

While that's the amount of growth Southern Nevada experiences in about six months, the Redland Shire is relatively small, just about 208 square miles. The island Dowling represents is slightly larger than 321 acres and has become a bedroom community of sorts for those who work in nearby Victoria Point. By comparison, Summerlin encompasses 22,500 acres.

"The purpose of my trip was to observe the way residential development is done in the U.S., and see what we may be able to do differently in Australia," he said.

The master-planned community concept is a new one to Dowling's area and there are very few in existence anywhere in Australia, he said.

"It is highly likely that our shire will be confronted with a significant master-planned community in the near future," Dowling said.

Visits from overseas dignitaries are not uncommon to the valley's planned communities.

A Chinese delegation recently visited Summerlin while taking a tour of area shopping centers, said Larry Brocato, senior vice president of the Rouse Co., developer of Summerlin.

Brocato said Summerlin stands out because of deliberate planning of residential and commercial uses and the tight design criteria.

"We find the use then go find the best players of that use," he said.

Klif Andrews, vice president of Pardee Homes Nevada, said its Nevada Trails community in the southwest valley has attracted groups from Japan and China as well as other groups interested in the company's Energy Smart conservation program.

Andrews said in developing and in planning such communities, the emphasis should be on the long term.

"Any master-planned community should be more attractive and more livable five to 10 years after opening and should only get better as time goes on," he said. "You can look to any example of an effective community, such as Summerlin or Green Valley Ranch, and see that this is true."

Andrews also stressed that elements such as trails, parks and schools are important features to a successful planned community.

Dowling said while he did see bad planning designs on his trip and said they, too, can be learned from, what impressed him about many planned communities was the "level of infrastructure provided by the developer and the ongoing social programs delivering a true community in every sense of the word."

"I believe my colleagues would learn much more by seeing first hand and meeting the residents, understanding that there are better ways of doing things, and Americans do have some of the answers," he said.

In other development news

• Lane Home Furnishings opened its first Southern Nevada store in Henderson in front of the Galleria at Sunset mall late last month and plans a grand opening Aug. 26.

Craig and Donna Staack are the owner-operators of the Henderson location. The Staacks have plans for two more stores, one at Flamingo Road, just west of the Las Vegas Beltway, to open by the first of the year, and a third in the Centennial Hills Town Center area by late 2005.

• The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors released its July 2004 statistics, further confirming that the market is slowing down from its heated days earlier this year. But it is still very strong when compared with the same time last year.

The number of available single-family homes listed in July was 13,917, an increase of almost 20 percent over June. Of those listings, 6,998 were new listings.

The number of single-family houses that sold in July, that were listed in the association's Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database, was 3,397, a 4 percent decline from June, but a 14 percent increase over July 2003.

The association reported that 80 percent of homes listed for sale in the Las Vegas Valley sold in 30 days or fewer in July, compared with 84 percent of homes selling in 30 days or less in June. The statistic includes only homes listed through the association's Multiple Listing Service, which is made up of mostly of resale homes.

"It's not the craziness it was from December to this time of year to now, but there is still a higher level of business going on when compared to last year," said Lee Barrett, president of the association and broker/president of Century 21 Barrett & Co. Inc. "There are still more clients trying to buy homes and there are still more sellers."

Barrett said it is a cyclical change and that it's still a better market even over last year's record year.

"The market is better than it was last year, but it is not as wild as it was the first of the year," he said. "I think we'll (continue to) see it even out because of the product the supply has increased."

• Memphis Championship Barbecue opened its fourth location this week at 1401 S. Rainbow Blvd. The three other locations are at 2250 E. Warm Springs Road, in North Las Vegas at 4379 Las Vegas Boulevard at Craig Road and inside the Santa Fe Station hotel-casino at 4949 N. Rancho Drive.

Jennifer Shubinski covers real estate and development for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-8832 or by e-mail at js@lasvegassun.com.