Spring Valley casino suit moves to LV courtroom

Cy Ryan and Launce Rake

Thursday, June 1, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Opponents of a proposed neighborhood casino in Spring Valley say they have scored a victory with an order to move the legal dispute to a Las Vegas courtroom.

District Judge Mike Griffin on Wednesday transferred the case from Carson City to Las Vegas to accommodate interested citizens.

The suit was filed in Carson City by attorneys for Triple Five Nevada Development Corp. and Boyd Gaming Corp. after a review panel of the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee rejected their bid for the 22-acre casino at Canyon Drive and Flamingo Road. The proposed casino would be the heart of a 115-acre shopping park.

The case now will be assigned to a judge in Clark County, who will have to decide on the state's April 11 motion to dismiss the Triple Five and Boyd suit.

The Clark County Commission approved the casino Jan. 19, but the review panel overturned the commission decision two months later, finding that the casino would have a negative impact on the surrounding community.

Judge Griffin said his "overriding concern" was that any citizen interested in the case would have to fly to Carson City, which he added would be "overly burdensome" to those who wanted to be present at hearings.

Scott Smith, an attorney for Citizens of Spring Valley, a neighborhood group that fought the proposed casino before the Clark County Commission and the state panel, said the ruling is good news for the casino opponents.

"I don't think it will make or break the case, but whatever judge we get (in Southern Nevada) will understand the issue better," Smith said.

Any judge "will be fair and follow the law," he said, but adding that a locally elected judge is likely to be sensitive to community concerns.

Attorneys for Citizens of Spring Valley, who argued the case before the review panel, have filed a motion to become a formal party in the case to support the state ruling.

Smith said he believes that attorneys for Triple Five wanted to try the case in Carson City to avoid publicity that has surrounded the controversial casino project.

Mark Fiorentino, lead attorney for Triple Five on the case, denied that casino backers filed suit in Carson City to avoid negative publicity.

"We filed the lawsuit in Carson City because the state government is based in Carson City," he said. "It just made sense."

Judge Griffin said there has been speculation that "the Clark County justice system will not be able to withstand the local pressures placed upon it from this case."

But Griffin added he has a "great deal of faith in the ability of any of the district judges in Clark County to adjudicate this case fairly and impartially."