Editorial: No. 1 priority is residents’ safety

Saturday, Feb. 7, 1998 | 10:40 a.m.

Due process needs to be taken to ensure that the property rights of the owner are protected. But when the property is an apartment complex that is left in such disrepair it is unsafe to live in, the government simultaneously also has another obligation, which is to protect the safety of the residents.

Last week, the Las Vegas City Council was forced to take such an extraordinary step when it declared as unsafe the Aladdin Villas apartment complex in Meadows Village, ordering it vacated.

In Thursday's SUN, reporter Denise Cardinal detailed the conditions the residents lived in, the steps the city took to balance property rights vs. public safety, and how government is helping these residents find a new place to live.

The city cited a number of reasons for shutting down the apartments: exposed wires, faulty gas lines, unsound stairwells, leaky roofs and dilapidated landings.

The attorney for Mick and Brian Mallas, who are the owners of the Aladdin Villas, contended that the city shouldn't take action because the Mallases had declared bankruptcy.

The owners believed that demolishing the apartment complex would hurt the value of their assets, an argument rebutted by the acting city attorney, Daniel Still. "When it comes to the health, safety and welfare of the public, bankruptcy isn't an issue," Still said.

Along with the dilapidated conditions, the owners of the apartment complex had problems paying their bills.

City Councilman Michael McDonald, who represents the Meadows Village area where the Aladdin Villas is located, noted that the apartment complex owners hadn't paid a variety of utility bills: $32,850 in sewer bills, $71,893 in property taxes, $6,845 in garbage pickup and nearly $12,000 in water service.

Now that the apartment complex will be demolished, what will happen to almost 100 residents who no longer have a place to live?

The city was already at work last week finding alternative places to live in Meadows Village, which is located near the Stratosphere hotel-casino. "In some cases they will be paying less rent," McDonald said.

All indications are that the city gave the owners of the apartment complex enough time to remedy the unsafe conditions.

"The owner had since April of 1997 to come into compliance," McDonald said. "He's had four appeals and then had it held from the last City Council meeting. It's the city taking a stance against out-of-state landlords that don't care. They take their money out of the neighborhood and don't put it back in."

But whether the landlord lives in Nevada or resides out of state really should make no difference in the government's obligation to protect its citizens. All landlords should heed the city's action.

The Aladdin Villas' owners were given an adequate opportunity to rectify the unsafe conditions. In this case, the city properly weighed the interests of the property owners against that of public safety, and found that public safety was sufficiently endangered to take action. The city was left with no other choice.