Rogich awaits council’s ruling

Erin Neff

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

When political consultant Sig Rogich first asked for a tavern license at his old office building, a disputed surveyor's calculation delayed the request.

Now, with the original issue cleared up, Rogich will find out Wednesday how the proposal measures up to city precedent.

But that precedent is already proving a problem because there are examples in city history beneficial to both sides.

"I think there are one or two individuals that have put this application under more scrutiny," said Lee Haney, a lobbyist for Rogich Communication Group. "I think there are a couple of council members who are adamantly opposed to this and are looking for reasons to deny."

Ranger Building Corp. will again ask the Las Vegas City Council to grant the tavern license at 2801 Westwood Drive, in an industrial area near Palace Station.

Rogich said he wants the license to increase the value of the property he intends to sell. Although city staff was concerned that the property would be turned into a strip club, Rogich said that will not happen while he owns it.

When the issue first came before the City Council March 15, the city staff came armed with a last-minute surveyor report showing the Westwood building to be 1,498 feet, 8 inches from Rex Bell Elementary School. The city requires a 1,500-foot separation between taverns and schools.

Rogich's surveyor said the school was located beyond the required 1,500 feet. The council delayed a vote until the measurement issue was resolved.

Now the city agrees with Rogich's assessment -- that the school is 1,501 feet, 5 inches away from the building.

But an adult bookstore on the other side of Sahara Avenue -- and thus in Clark County's jurisdiction -- is within 1,500 feet.

The city's business license department says it recommends denial for licenses when it is aware of such properties in the county's jurisdiction.

In some cases the city has proof it has denied requests. Yet it has also approved licenses in the same circumstance.

"We just have to make the information that we're able to come up with showing they've done it in the past," Haney said.

Even if that issue is resolved, two others could become prominent Wednesday.

City planners recommend denial because the building is just 555 feet from Camilio's Tavern, a bar also seeking a license.

Councilman Gary Reese said he is opposed to the proposed license because the building is close to a boxing gym. Although technically not a school, the gym does attract children.

The Nevada Supreme Court ruled in a Tonopah case that a bus stop for schoolchildren within the 1,500-foot distance was reason to deny a tavern license.

"In my mind, the application should have never been accepted," Reese said. "I've dealt with distance requirements and I think I've been very consistent.

"To me, it's no longer even questionable, it should be denied," Reese said.

Although the distances to schools and other taverns have been the dominant issue so far, other neighbors of Rogich's old building are beginning to squawk.

Some of the tenants in the Highland Office Center have objected to the request because they said they don't want to have a bar -- and possibly a sexually oriented business -- as a neighbor.

"One of my concerns is the people that it'll bring into my parking lot," said Gary Varn, owner of Charleston Truck Rentals. "I'm the closest business to that building and all of the trucks are parked there."

Varn also works for Rocky Mountain Co., which owns and leases the 130,000-square-foot office center at 2753 S. Highland Drive.

"I think it'll bring down the price of the property," said Varn, who has worked for RMC for five years. "I feel it's detrimental to me keeping employment."

Employees at five other offices within the building have signed a letter of protest sent to the City Council. RMC has also written a letter protesting the proposed tavern license.

Although protesters object to the tavern license, they also worry such a license will eventually lead to a topless nightclub at the site -- a use permitted there by the city's zoning code.

"The tavern license is one thing, but then it could also be turned into another use," said Lucinda Stanley, the broker owner of Certified Commercial Realty. "It's just not conducive to an office environment."

That possibility has put Councilman Michael McDonald is an awkward position. Rogich is his political adviser, but McDonald is friends with Rick Rizzolo, who owns the Crazy Horse Too strip club. That club would be in competition with any club that could open at the Westwood Drive building.

During the March 15 meeting McDonald said he would abstain on the item because Rogich is his adviser and he wanted to wait for the outcome of a state Ethics Commission hearing on a similar but unrelated vote McDonald made last year.