Planners skeptical of latest locals casino project

John Wilen

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 1998 | 11:43 a.m.

The Henderson Planning Commission is to consider a proposal for yet another locals casino at its meeting Thursday night.

Peter Trust LP, a family trust, wants to build a 200-room hotel and 15,000-square-foot casino as part of a 62-acre master planned commercial development at 701 N. Gibson Road in Henderson.

The overall project is titled Gibson Plaza.

"It's primarily a corporate center," said George Garcia, a planning consultant for Gibson Plaza. "It's like another McCarran Center."

In addition to the hotel-casino, Gibson Plaza would include an office park, restaurants and other retail shops.

But this time, the cards appear to be stacked against the developers from the beginning. The Henderson planning staff is recommending approval of a zone change that would allow gaming on the site, but denial of a use permit for the Peter Trust hotel-casino.

The project would not meet a Dec. 31 deadline set by a new state law designed to curb the spread of gaming beyond established resort areas, according to a staff report. In addition, the project does not include enough of the amenities required by Henderson municipal codes.

Henderson requires casino projects to contain a number of non-gaming amenities, such as movie theatres, bowling lanes, ice or roller rinks and swimming pools.

The Gibson Plaza hotel-casino will have restaurants and a swimming pool, among other amenities that have not yet been decided, said Garcia.

But Michael Landler, a Henderson staff planner, said the Gibson Plaza plans show few details beyond the location of retail pads, the business park and the hotel-casino. The plans do not show how many rooms the hotel will have, how big the casino will be, or what amenities the property will offer, said Landler.

"It's pretty sketchy," said Landler.

The lack of detail is a large part of the reason the project is recommended for denial, said Landler.

But Garcia believes the project will gain Planning Commission approval.

"We believe we're going to succeed," Garcia said.

Other recent Henderson hotel-casino proposals have not been so fortunate. Last month, planners denied plans for a Bighorn hotel-casino, which would have been located southwest of the intersection of U.S. 95 and Foothills Drive. However, the Olympiad hotel-casino, located at the northwest corner of Gibson and Boulder Highway, an established retail corridor, was approved, as was Grand Bay at Lake Las Vegas.

Several other proposed casinos have been denied by Henderson's Planning Commission and City Council over the past year as area residents have become increasingly vocal about protesting projects close to residential areas.