Fight gets tougher for Strip monorail opponents

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Oct. 21, 1999 | 11:20 a.m.

Frustrated homeowners fighting a two-year battle against a politically influential group backing a Strip monorail encountered another powerful opponent Wednesday -- former Gov. Bob Miller.

But Miller's presence amid straight-faced, dark-suited attorneys who shuffled into the Clark County Commission chambers hardly fazed Desert Inn Estates residents, who claim the monorail project will devastate their neighborhood.

"Although people were brought here today to intimidate me and my neighbors, I have one thing better than Bob Miller," Paula Quagliana, president of the Desert Inn Homeowners Association told commissioners. "I have the Constitution of the United States of America."

Despite the pleas of Quagliana, whose elderly neighbors huddled around her as she spoke, the commission approved the use permit and route for the MGM Grand-Bally's Monorail LLC system.

The board did, however, delay for two weeks any decision on the design of the monorail tracks and traffic studies conducted by the monorail franchise. A public hearing was rescheduled for Nov. 3

After Miller -- who was hired as a senior partner with the law firm Jones Vargas in January -- touted the $600 million project during his brief appearance, former county aviation director and chairman of the monorail group Bob Broadbent unveiled a computerized video of the monorail.

The video showed the sleek monorail gliding out of Bally's hotel-casino where it extends from the existing train that links Bally's to the MGM Grand.

The video depicts the monorail traveling north to Harrah's, east to Koval Lane, north to Sands Avenue and east to Paradise Road. After stops at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Las Vegas Hilton, the route ends at the Sahara hotel-casino.

Although the presentation illustrated how single support pillars would carry the raised monorail down the median on Sands Avenue, it failed to show the 14 "straddle bents" that will span a milelong stretch of Paradise Road.

"That's a pretty slick video, except for the missing 15 seconds," said Lance Earl, an attorney for the Venetian who expressed concerns about how the monorail tracks would affect access points at the Sands Expo Center. "President Nixon's secretary was obviously in on making the video."

Quagliana said the monorail, which will operate just yards from her neighborhood at the corner of Sands Avenue and Paradise, violates landowners' Constitutional rights to quiet, peace and enjoyment of their property.

She and many other opponents also warned commissioners of the risk involved with approving a project that could cost close to a billion dollars.

"We're not only putting up money for streets and losing our homes," Quagliana said. "But we'll have to put up the tax dollars to pay for Mr. Broadbent's disaster."

The monorail group -- which has been advertised as the first privately financed transit system in the country -- has asked the state for a $600 million tax-exempt bond to build the system. State officials are studying whether the venture would be too risky.

Earl quickly offered his opinion.

"If they stop operating it, (the county) can operate it and absorb all the debt or tear it down," he said. "Those are the two options. There is no middle ground."

Broadbent fully expects the monorail to be a success. He said 3,400 passengers per hour in each direction will ride the monorail during the system's inaugural year. Eventually, he said, 20,000 passengers will ride it during the same time period.

The $2 fare and advertisements should cover the cost to build and maintain the system.

"Our study through direct contract says people will pay the fare and the system will be a success," Broadbent said. "If we're going to build something, let's build something classy."

The commission comforted some opponents by changing language in the ordinance so that if the monorail franchise decides to turn the system over to another entity, the board would have to approve the transaction.

But then came the message residents hoped they wouldn't hear.

"It will happen," Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates told Quagliana. "Whether I want it or you want it, it's best for the community."

Aside from funding sources, the monorail's greatest obstacle might be the design of the tracks. The single support pillars do not allow motorists beneath the tracks to make left turns. But the "straddle bents" -- which are huge concrete braces that stretch across the entire roadway -- block businesses and their signs.

Commissioner Myrna Williams, who has always opposed the monorail's proximity to the Desert Inn country club community, said concrete pillars lining Paradise would only invite graffiti.

"The first thing that came to my mind when I saw those was the 'French Connection' " Williams said. "Nothing could be worse or more detrimental to businesses there or to the people there."

At the conclusion of the five-hour public hearing, commissioners asked county planners to meet with Broadbent and the opponents of the monorail to discuss the design of the monorail tracks and traffic concerns related to their location.