Limo firm complains of unfair restrictions

Thursday, May 28, 1998 | 10:16 a.m.

An attorney for Las Vegas Limousines has told the Nevada Transportation Service Authority that restrictions placed on the company are "far broader" than on any other local limo operation.

Kristin McMillan made her comments to the three-member panel Wednesday during a hearing at Cashman Field, noting that a limitation of 12 limos is "one of the most disabling restrictions" in the business.

"No one has anything close to a similar restriction," McMillan, who represents Charlie Frias, president/owner of Las Vegas Limousines since December 1996, told the board. "(Our restrictions) are far broader than on any other company."

However, rival limousine and taxicab companies during the two-hour hearing said that other companies have had such restrictions placed on their Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity to make "a level playing field" for all transportation firms.

TSA Chairman John Mendoza and commissioners Paul Christensen and Donald Solderberg will issue their decision at a later date.

Las Vegas Limousines, which faces allegations of using more than a dozen limos at a time since the Public Service Commission issued the limit last Sept. 25, seeks to have an unlimited number of limos on the streets.

The TSA has since replaced the PSC as regulators of transportation vehicles other than cabs, which are regulated by the Nevada Taxicab Authority.

Las Vegas Limousines, one of seven limo firms in Clark County, also wants the restrictions lifted that prevent the company from accepting walk-up charter business that other limo companies are allowed to take.

"(The restrictions) limit our ability to grow, expand or assist with (the area's) growth and expansion," McMillan said, citing the tremendous growth in the local population and in the tourism industry. "Legally, it's just plain wrong freezing out one carrier."

However, attorney Eric Taylor, representing Yellow-Checker Cab Co., said that the state has in the past limited the number of vehicles a particular carrier can place on the street. He noted that in 1986, regulators limited Strip trolleys to just seven vehicles to protect the public bus company and the cab industry.

Friday Las Vegas Limousines will either agree to pay a fine for a citation that was issued based on those allegations and a subsequent state investigation or ask for a hearing on the matter, TSA Administrative Attorney Francis Arenas said.