A report by RGR Group of Las Vegas done in conjunction with housing analyst Dennis Smith and Richard Lee, vice president of First American Title, showed that the region has nearly 36,000 acres of federal and private lands available for residential development. That's about a 6 1/2 year supply.

Gov. Jim Gibbons even weighed in on the issue during a housing seminar when he called on Congress to expand the boundaries of federal land that can be auctioned off to developers.

It didn't take long for debate to stir up environmentalists who are monitoring attempts to expand the boundary and any encroachment on areas currently protected from development. It even prompted a newspaper columnist to say residents shouldn't be fooled by the RGR report and claims by developers and politicians. He said that there's plenty of land available for residential development beyond the 6 1/2 years stated in the report and there is no housing crisis.

The columnist points to master-planned communities such as Summerlin with plenty of acreage remaining for development. Park Highlands in North Las Vegas and Inspirada in Henderson are just getting started with their residential developments to build thousands of homes. And Kyle Canyon is still in the planning stages.

There is a high inventory of resale homes still on the market and plenty of in-fill lots around the valley available for homebuilding as well, the columnist said.

Smith and Lee stand by the report but welcome any attempts to prove it is incorrect.

Smith said the region has been absorbing 5,400 acres a year for the past three years for residential development and if that rate stays the same, the projections are correct. Even if that use of land slows given the existing conditions in the housing market, that doesn't change the fact that there's a limited supply of land, he said.

"The number of years left might be 6.5, 7.4 or 8.1, that is not the point," Smith said. "We are trying to make a point that there is a limited amount available, and that's all we are trying to do. Are we safe to say there are less than 10 years for a typical builder? Yes. We welcome anyone to prove us wrong."

Lee says the same thing. In the many years they have done the land-availability analysis, no one has proven the numbers are wrong. The projections are based on growth patterns, but with the housing market slowdown, those numbers could change, he said. No one can deny land is limited, and they are simply trying to draw attention of that to political leaders.

Smith agrees with the columnist that there is plenty of housing stock in the short term. He said the study already factors in the master-planned communities of Summerlin, Park Highlands, Inspirada and others into its equation for absorption. But he added that those projects are spoken for by builders for the most part and that other builders are running out of options to build their next projects.

Builders are buying and developing in-fill sites but there are only so many of those available, Smith said. Besides, developing those sites are expensive and don't offer the affordable housing that many are seeking, he added. Many in-fill sites are also zoned rural preservation which limits the density of housing that's built, he said.

Smith said he doesn't mind people debating whether the disposal boundary should be expanded and how much Las Vegas should grow. That's a legitimate issue to debate in the community. But there is no debate about there being a limited supply of land for housing.

Launce Rake, spokesman for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said that there is no crisis and that people are trying to maneuver to get land all the time. There is plenty of land available for development.

Recent auctions held by the Bureau of Land Management show how little interest there is in purchasing land, Rake said. Out-of-state speculation appears to be drying up and that is going to have an impact and has had an impact on the housing market, he said.

Rake acknowledges there is probably less than a 10-year supply of land left if the current development pattern continues. That doesn't mean, however, the solution is expanding the disposal boundary. And no one should even consider trying to remove protected lands and put them into the development category, he said.

"If developers think they can throw away the disposal limits to maximize projects, they are going to have a heck of a fight with the conservation community," Rake said. "The conservation community is going to look very carefully at the proposal to expand the disposal boundary."

Rake said it is incumbent on the development community to do a much better job with infill projects. As the land supply continues to dwindle, that shouldn't be a cue to do more leapfrog development outside of the Las Vegas Valley, he said. There is a limited supply of water and continued expansive growth impacts the quality of life, he said

"The easy answer to make more money is leapfrog development," Rake said. "We need to look at ways to develop smarter. Towns like New York City and San Francisco are constrained by geography and they are still developing."