Friday, April 3, 1998 | 8:22 a.m.
A District Court judge ruled Friday that the $300 green fees won't be lowered by court order at the Rio hotel-casino's golf course in the Seven Hills development in Henderson.
Rejecting the complaints of homeowners and developers at the still under construction master-planned community, District Judge Mark Gibbons said the green fees issue can wait until a September trial when the issue of public access to the course also will be decided.
A class-action lawsuit was filed by disgruntled homeowners after the Rio bought the golf course bordering their houses and closed it to all but Rio guests.
Developers at Seven Hills joined in the lawsuit contending the closing of the golf course has made it difficult to sell homes.
The Rio ended that portion of the feud -- pending trial on Sept. 14 -- by agreeing to open the course. But with a $300 green fee, litigants have questioned whether it is truly a public facility.
Rio guests who don't receive complimentary rounds of golf still can play for $190 a round. Gibbons questioned why everyone can't play at that rate -- still one of the highest in Southern Nevada.
"They can if they go stay at the Rio," Rio attorney Richard Levy of Los Angeles responded.
He explained that the Rio believes if people stay at the resort and play golf at the reduced rate, they also will patronize restaurants and, perhaps, gamble.
"It makes sense in the scheme of things," Levy said, noting that the Desert Inn hotel-casino has a similar pricing structure for its golf course. Those prices are $215 for non-guests and $145 for guests.
Steven McKinley, a Los Angeles attorney representing the Helmer Co. of Nevada, contended at Friday's hearing that the Rio's "only objective is to attract high rollers."
He noted that tee off times are 15 minutes apart, when the standard is about half that.
In the end, Gibbons decided the parties can wait five months under the current plan for all matters to be decided at a non-jury trial. If the homeowners and developers win, they can be compensated for their losses during that period.
The lawsuits were filed by home builders and homeowners against developer Silver Canyon Partnership and several co-defendants over the sale of the golf course to the Rio.
At the same time home builders were telling their buyers they would have access to the "high-end" 18-hole course at Eastern Avenue and Lake Mead Drive.
Helmer purchased one of the development's subdivisions to build 152 single-family homes with the understanding that the golf course would be a "high-end daily fee facility open to the public," the lawsuit stated.
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