Council turns down Sunset Beach proposal

Valerie Miller

Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.

Life's a beach, then you're denied. That's a lesson learned by developers of the proposed Sunset Beach Resort.

The Henderson City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night against the proposed hotel-casino because it did not meet new minimum-acreage requirements. It was proposed for nine acres at 750 West Sunset Road, on the corner of Sunset and Middlegate roads. Twenty-five acres is the new minimum for such developments.

The proposal was for a 16,481-square-foot hotel that included a beach-themed casino, a 4,000-square-foot restaurant and two three-story hotel towers that would have contained 210 rooms. Councilman Andy Hafen cast the lone vote against the denial.

The decision followed an earlier recommendation by the Henderson Planning Commission for denial of the project.

The agenda item, which had been continued from the Aug. 18 City Council meeting, brought to light bigger issues about what kinds of gaming operations would be allowed in Henderson in the wake of a new "resort standards" ordinance passed by the city on July 22.

The failure of the proposed resort to meet the requirements of the then-pending ordinance was one of the reasons cited by the Planning Commission for recommending denial at its July 16 meeting.

The Sunset Beach Resort would have been constructed on nine acres, far short of the 25-acre minimum required for such a project under the new ordinance. The commission had also found the resort to be incompatible with the surrounding area, which is mostly light industrial.

Councilman Jack Clark stated during the meeting Tuesday night that his decision to vote for denial of the project was a tough call, but one based on a desire to protect existing businesses in the area, rather than comply with the newly passed ordinance.

"It's not that I can't support this project, but that I can't support it at this location," he said. "If this (Sunset Beach Resort) project were approved tonight, I could see people with other developments planned for the area in the future coming before us and trying to close down businesses that had existed in that area for years, saying that they were objectionable."

Business owners in the area echoed Clark's concerns, saying that the industrial -- and often noisy -- nature of their businesses would clash with a hotel in such close proximity.

"We have a big equipment rental yard, a wrecking yard and an auto body shop right around the resort's site," said area business owner Mario Turtino. "I've talked to 30 business owners and I don't know of any who want this business there."

William Coulthard, who represents the applicant, Pegasus Sunset LLC, said that he believed the resort would be compatible with the area, citing recommendations made by the Citizens Advisory Committee earlier in the year for commercial and tourist commercial uses of the site.

Following the meeting, Coulthard said that he would be discussing the project's future options with his client.