Battle over Glenbrook pier ends quietly

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 1999 | 12:21 p.m.

The agreement was worked out between two property owners who wanted a pier near a community pier on Glenbrook Bay and residents trying to bar all pier construction, according to the residents' consultant, Gary Midkiff.

The bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency was to hear the pier-ban issue later this month.

The dispute involved powerful casino industry lobbyist Harvey Whittemore and wealthy liquor distributor Larry Ruvo, who are now withdrawing one application and applying for another for a pier that wouldn't be on the beach in the middle of the bay.

The mid-bay property where the pier would have been located will be turned over to Robert Daiss, who had fought the initial plan by Whittemore and Ruvo. And the move for a pier prohibition will be withdrawn.

In the 1980s, ordinances were drafted to keep new piers out of the bay, but weren't formally adopted. The pier opponents renewed efforts for firm rules because of the pier plans of Whittemore and Ruvo. Residents also are concerned about an entertainment complex the two want to build.

If their pier had been approved, many Glenbrook residents feared that up to 15 more piers could be approved, cluttering what's now a beach with only one pier that's available for loading and unloading boats.

The Whittemore-Ruvo move caused a big controversy during the recent 1999 Nevada Legislature when the lobbyist slipped an amendment into a Senate bill that would have helped the pier project.

The "Piergate" bill, as it was dubbed, was gutted in the Assembly after clearing the Senate with the controversial provisions intact - an upper house action that resulted in criticism of Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, who helped pilot the measure through his Judiciary Committee.