Jury in beltway case says county wronged couple

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1998 | 10:42 a.m.

After a three-day trial last week, a jury agreed that Clark County officials cheated a Las Vegas couple when it took their Rainbow Boulevard property for the beltway project.

The county offered Arthur and Elma Haritos $49,000 for .23 of an acre at the corner of Rainbow and Sunset Road.

A jury ruled that the couple deserved 15 times that amount. It said not only was the property worth $100,000, but that the couple should receive an additional $636,294 because of damages related to the construction project.

Attorney James Leavitt, who represented the Haritos, said the couple had planned to build a commercial center on their 5-acre parcel they have owned since 1979. They planned to build it as soon as Sunset Road was expanded.

"This is not atypical of government," Leavitt said. "Government several times a year goes and presents appraisal reports, trying to convince the land owner that that's what the property is worth."

The jury ruled that the Haritoses planned commercial complex would be adversely impacted by the beltway project because the county intends to elevate Rainbow Boulevard at least seven feet, which would block some motorists' view of the shopping center.

The construction project also would increase flooding on Haritos property and eliminate two access points, according to Leavitt.

"Losing two access points is big for a 5-acre parcel," Leavitt said. "His plans have been thwarted substantially. He's in a holding pattern."

The county has used its eminent domain powers to take land from property owners who have land in the path of the Las Vegas Beltway. It approached the Haritos in February 1997.