Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Walters may fight BLM in court

Wednesday, July 14, 1999 | 9:55 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's golf notebook appears Wednesday. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Fortunately for Billy Walters, the local golf course developer doesn't have to deal with the Bureau of Land Management to build a golf course at the south end of the Strip.

Walters, who last year was selected to develop a 27-hole golfing facility on the Strip, said he expects to break ground on the project in September, with a completion date set for September of next year.

The same, however, can't be said for his proposed Desert Breeze Golf Course adjacent to Desert Breeze Park in western Las Vegas.

Walters' two-year bid to develop an 18-hole public course on BLM land near Flamingo Road and Durango Drive may end up in litigation after the BLM denied his application for the project.

"It doesn't look like that project is going to happen, it looks like it's going to end up in court," Walters said. "Basically what happened is the BLM has reneged on their commitment to the county and to me.

"I'm in the process of retaining an attorney right now who specializes in BLM litigation and unless something is resolved, I'm sure we're going to take it to an impartial judge and jury and let them decide if the BLM acted in good faith."

According to Walters, the BLM opted to auction off the 110-acre parcel of land in a public auction after reaching an agreement with Walters to build the course. When the BLM came in to appraise the land, they did so based upon its value as commercially zoned property despite the fact it is zoned as recreational -- and the zoning can never be changed, according to Walters.

"The BLM's policy on all the land that they've ever sold or traded has been (to) appraise it based upon the way that the property is currently zoned," Walters said. "In this case, it was just in reverse.

"They took a piece of property that is part of a regional park ... and cannot be rezoned, but they took the position that this property was surrounded by commercial land and they were going to appraise it like it was commercial land and (like) it was zoned as commercial land and that was going to be the minimum value they were going to establish it at. That increased the value of the land 10 to 20 times."

BLM public affairs officer Phil Guerrero said, however, that the BLM had no contractual agreement with Walters.

"We had no agreement with Mr. Walters," Guerrero said of the BLM. "Our agreement is with the governmental entity.

"Bob Abbey, the state director for the BLM, denied (Walters') original application because it was not in keeping with the purpose of the Recreation and Public Purposes Act."

Walters said he has tried to resolve the matter in a "non-confrontational" manner, but now will seek to recoup, through the courts, the quarter of a million dollars he has invested in the project -- or get the BLM to honor its initial agreement with Walters and Clark County so he can proceed with the course.

* HOLE IN ONE: Sandy Cohen, the 1999 Boulder City Women's Golf League club champion, recently scored the second hole in one of her golfing career during a tournament in San Diego.

Cohen, playing in the Western States Annual Golf Tournament at Doubletree Carmel Highland Resort, used an 8-iron on the 105-yard, par-3 16th hole. Because Cohen was hitting to an elevated green, she and her playing partners were not immediately aware of the ace.

"I did not see the ball go in the hole," Cohen said. "My foursome immediately said, 'that's going to be a good one.' The foursome ... on the adjacent tee witnessed the actual hole in one and immediately started exclaiming the accomplishment."

* OH, YES: Ted Oh, the former UNLV All-American, posted his best finish on the Nike Tour last weekend in Greensboro, N.C., when he finished tied for ninth place.

Oh shot rounds of 66-70-68-70 for a four-round total of 6-under-par 274 and earned $5,203.

* JUNIOR GOLF DAY: The second annual Free Las Vegas Junior Golf Day, sponsored by the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association, will be held Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Las Vegas International Golf Center. Call 798-8700.

* JUNIOR NEWS: Green Valley High grad Joe Maytas won the Independent Insurance Agent Junior Classic golf tournament held at the Dayton Valley Country Club in Carson City. ...

Bishop Gorman High junior Mark Leseburg won a three-hole playoff to win the boys 15-17 division of the Nevada State Stroke Junior Championship last week at Dayton Valley Country Club. Matt Edwards of Las Vegas won the boys 13-14 division, edging another Las Vegan, Jonathan Taruc, by three shots.

* WOMEN'S GOLF: The Las Vegas chapter of Executive Women's Golf is celebrating its fifth anniversary with an All Women Tournament on Saturday, July 24, at Las Vegas National Golf Club. Call Sandy Elkins at 368-7888 for entry information.