Attorney demands fair price for Harmon property

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

A Las Vegas attorney said Tuesday that Clark County officials might be premature in their belief that using an S-shaped design to extend Harmon Avenue across the Strip is the least expensive.

Owen Nitz, who represents the Reynolds Trust property at the corner of Harmon and Las Vegas Boulevard, said he is willing to take the county to court if it doesn't pay fair market value for his client's 3-acre parcel.

"You never know how much you'll be awarded by a jury," Nitz said. "If they condemn the property, assuming we can't reach an agreement on a price, we'll go to trial."

If Harmon Avenue sweeps north at the Strip as the current design shows, it will dissect the Reynolds Trust property, practically rendering it useless. Nitz said if the county takes the land, they shouldn't expect to pay a cheap price.

Extending Harmon Avenue west across the Strip and Interstate 15 has been a county priority for more than a year. County board members believe the extension will relieve congested east-west commuter routes.

Until a controversial deal with Mirage Resorts Inc. last August, the county had planned to stretch Harmon straight across Las Vegas Boulevard and through a Mirage parcel on the west side of the Strip.

"This design is a great detriment to small property owners to benefit large property owners," Nitz said of the latest plan.

Nitz said every property owner except the Mirage would rather see the Harmon Avenue-Las Vegas Boulevard intersection be a traditional "section line" design. Representatives of neighboring properties -- Harley Davidson Cafe and the Aladdin hotel-casino -- also addressed commissioners. Mirage lawyers were silent.

Reynolds Trust has a 99-year lease agreement with Focus 2000, which had planned to develop a shopping center. Focus owners have been paying Reynolds $107,000 a month while the county has worked on a design; they urged commissioners Tuesday to expedite the process.

"You got to admit it's one of the nicest places in town to develop -- until you run a road through it," Nitz said of the property, 390 feet of which fronts the Strip. "We prefer they didn't take it at all; if they do, we want fair market value."

Chris Kaempfer, who represents Harley Davidson across Harmon from Reynolds, asked the county to keep crosswalks open during construction of any pedestrian bridges and ensure the bridges don't block the view of the cafe.

Nitz was applauded when he returned to the podium a second time and reiterated that most property owners would like to see the return of the original Harmon design. District Court Judge Gene Porter ruled in November that commissioners broke open meeting laws in August when they introduced and approved an S-shaped route that shaved only 14 acres off the Mirage property.

The drawings presented at the meeting did not resemble the original sketches that were attached to the agenda item.

During that August meeting, the board approved a right-of-way agreement with Mirage Resorts that allowed the county to acquire 14 acres worth $114 million for $8 million. The land deal had been struck during private gatherings days before the board meeting.

The county was given a bargain on the property in exchange for curving the road and preserving the Mirage property, which will be developed into a boardwalk.