Restaurant seeks high rise in exchange for walkway

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, July 22, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

An ongoing battle over a proposed pedestrian bridge that has pitted two Strip casino owners against a popular restaurant might finally be settled in August, when both sides pitch their arguments to the Clark County Commission.

If the overpass linking the Mirage and Treasure Island hotel-casinos -- both part of Mirage Resorts -- to the Venetian hotel-casino is approved Aug. 4, owners of the 40-year-old Rosewood Grille are determined to get some favors in return.

Most significantly, restaurant owners will ask permission for a 28-story time-share project attached to the Rosewood Grille that would include several levels of parking and a retail area.

The Rosewood also requested that it be allowed to heighten its sign so it can be seen above the pedestrian bridge. And it asked that a walkway be split from the overpass at the Venetian property line and guide tourists to the restaurant.

Lesa Coder, assistant planning director for the county, said her staff will suggest some design adjustments to increase the distance the project is set back from Las Vegas Boulevard.

"We suggested there be a little redesign to accommodate an increased setback so we don't have a block wall of a building," Coder said. "We want a street appeal and we want to make sure it fits in and belongs."

Mirage Resorts and Venetian owners, as well as county planners, say a pedestrian bridge is badly needed near the Spring Mountain Road-Las Vegas Boulevard intersection.

The county had initially planned to build a four-bridge system at the intersection as the Strip developed. Because of the increased number of pedestrians that accommodated the Venetian, the two hotel-casinos wanted to expedite the project and offered to fund the bridge and build it.

The Clark County Planning Commission approved a design in January that showed the bridge 900 feet south of Spring Mountain Road. The unusual mid-block project was quickly appealed by the Rosewood Grille, which is already in the shadow of the Venetian.

Coder echoed the argument that Mirage Resorts and the Venetian have been presenting to the board for months: Because of the boardwalk and pirate show at Treasure Island, there is no room for a bridge touch-down point on that corner.

"Given the physical features we have today, where could we possibly put it?" Coder said. "If this were a public project, we'd probably be looking at this location."

The bridge will stretch from inside the Venetian to an area between Treasure Island and The Mirage.

Rosewood Grille owners Alan and Kevin LeWinter have argued that the bridge will not only block views of their restaurant, but it will reduce the amount of tourists who walk past their business. Attorney John Moran Jr., who represents Rosewood, convinced board members in June to put off their decision until his clients had time to write a variance request that would protect the restaurant.

Representatives from the casinos and the restaurant have been meeting for months to work out a compromise. After the June commission meeting in which Rosewood won a delay in the project, Moran said negotiations had been unsuccessful.

"We haven't worked anything out," said Moran, who was unavailable for comment. " They haven't offered us anything but to put signs on the pedestrian bridge pointing to the Rosewood Grille."