Plans for roadway upset Sahara business owners

David Strow

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 10:54 a.m.

In March, Michael Kopp thought he was buying a small building at 900 E. Sahara Ave. What 900 E. Sahara Ave. ended up being was a road.

That roadway -- a strip of asphalt 30 feet wide and 150 feet long -- is the only connection between nine businesses and Sahara Avenue.

Now, Kopp has informed those companies that he plans to shut down the road Aug. 26 for redevelopment -- a move that could force some of the small businesses there to shut down.

"I've never come across anything like this," said Michael Brown, owner of George L. Brown Insurance Agency, located at its East Sahara address since 1961. "It would shut us down. I have 15 people employed here ... I don't know what I'd do with them.

"It's a worthless piece of property. I don't know what he bought it for, other than to hold us hostage."

But Kopp insists his purchase of the property was a mistake. The resident agent of Las Vegas-based Lion Investment Group said he's been trying, unsuccessfully, to resell the property to nearby businesses.

"I manage the investment funds for this partnership ... if it doesn't profit, I don't make a living at all," Kopp said. "All I'm trying to do is free up the capital and get on with the business.

"What I was trying to do is force the action that would get money back into our pocket and get us out of there."

The block of buildings occupying 904 to 944 E. Sahara Ave. are similar to a number of properties along the north side of Sahara just east of the Strip. Though they have Sahara addresses, the companies actually occupy a long cul-de-sac stretching back from the avenue.

The business owners in the cul-de-sac assumed that the road leading into the cul-de-sac was a public street, like the others on Sahara. The county performed maintenance work, just as they would on any other public road, while the property owners jointly maintained the parking lot connecting their properties.

But they found out on June 22 that the property wasn't public at all, when Kopp sent each business a letter stating that he'd bought the roadway and planned to shut it down in less than 45 days.

In 1961, the owners of the adjoining properties, listed as The Kids Corp. and Carl and Ida Kaufman, signed an agreement that granted the right of ingress and egress over the small strip of land. Ever since, it has been used as a roadway allowing access to the businesses. Kopp said each of the nine original tenants were part owners of that land.

In 1993, ownership of the property fell to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, one of the nine tenants in the cul-de-sac. Property taxes weren't paid on the land and the Clark County Treasurer's Office took possession of it.

The property was sold at auction in March to Kopp, who buys property at such sales then resells them at a profit. He said title records led him to believe he was buying the building the Gay and Lesbian Center occupies. Kopp paid $30,000 for the property.

When he realized what he'd bought, he said he went to several of the property owners in an effort to sell. He claims he was rebuffed by at least two nearby companies.

"We assumed everyone would cooperate in getting the property back, because it would be a mess for everyone if they didn't," Kopp said. He said he had been trying to make a "reasonable profit" on the sale.

But Richard Avila, an attorney representing one of the businesses in the area, argues that the property owners shouldn't be forced to pay for the property at all, since a perpetual easement on the property was granted 37 years ago. The easement agreement states that the right of use "shall be binding and accrue to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors in title to the property."

"They can't be in the position of paying for something they already have," Avila said. "You pretty much have to protect yourself, to make sure you're paying for what you get. (Kopp) didn't take cautionary measures (at the auction) to protect his interests."

The easement agreement also states that all affected property owners are required to pay a portion of maintenance costs on the road. Kopp said none of the owners have paid those costs and have relinquished their right to use the property though the easement.

On Aug. 13, Kopp sent a second notice to the business owners, informing them the property would be closed Aug. 26. Each letter was intended to trigger a bid by the neighbors for the land, Kopp said.

"I've tried to be solution minded, and all I'm getting is, 'Hey, you (expletive),' " Kopp said. "This is available for every one of the property owners. My partners are turning to me now and saying, 'Look, you've got a job to do, quit screwing around.'

"I don't intend to develop anything on the property, at this point, but I will close the access off if somebody doesn't recognize that we have a right to get a return on the investment we've had for half a year now."

There is one other route out, a driveway behind Trinity Life Center that allows access to St. Louis Avenue. But that's owned by Trinity Life, which has informed property owners that the driveway cannot be used as an alternative to the Sahara entrance.

Avila said he may file a lawsuit before Aug. 26 with the intent of blocking the road's closure.

Both Kopp and the property owners agree on one thing: Neither party can figure out how a street ended up on a county sales block in the first place.

"Government entities, you would think they would know this was a street," Curtis Mills, owner of Realty Excel Realtors, 940 E. Sahara Ave., said. "We'll get an estoppel, but it's something that should have never happened."

Clark County officials could not be reached for comment on the matter.