Flamingo, Caesars sue over pedestrian bridge

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

The Flamingo Hilton and Caesars Palace sued Clark County on Monday in District Court, alleging the County Commission committed legal error in denying the resorts' application last month to build a pedestrian bridge across the Strip.

The suit had been expected. Officials of the two hotels, soon after the County Commission on Dec. 2 denied an application for variances required to build the bridge, said they would likely sue the county.

The resorts want to build a $12 million bridge connecting the Flamingo Hilton to Caesars. The bridge would share the same landing on the west side of the Strip as a bridge proposed to connect Caesars to the Barbary Coast. Barbary Coast officials have criticized the plan as an attempt to divert pedestrians from their resort.

In their lawsuit, Hilton and Caesars contend the commission has approved similar proposals offered by other resorts.

"Clark County has routinely granted such variances to similarly situated property owners in the resort corridor," the suit says.

The suit calls the commission decision "arbitrary and capricious."

When they denied the application, commissioners said they wanted to wait until four other bridges are built before deciding whether pedestrian traffic warrants an additional bridge.

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