Shift of Spring Valley casino suit to LV sought

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state attorney general's office has asked that a suit filed in the controversy over a casino planned for a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood be moved from Carson City to Las Vegas.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Kirk Hendrick said all of the players in the case are in Southern Nevada and they should not be required to go to Carson City for hearings.

In addition, many of those involved are government employees, meaning unnecessary taxpayer money for travel.

Boyd Gaming Corp., project developers Nevso and Three Sons, and the Clark County Commission brought the suit in Carson City after the Nevada Gaming Policy Review Committee rejected a bid for a 22-acre casino development at Grand Canyon Drive and Flamingo Road as part of a 115-acre shopping park in the Spring Valley township.

Boyd and the other plaintiffs say that they are authorized in the law to bring the suit in Carson City, and that there won't be any need for witnesses since the petition challenges the constitutionality of the 1997 law setting up the system for approval of neighborhood casinos.

Hendrick, in his motion to change the location, said, "It would be unjust to allow petitioners to use legal maneuvers to frustrate the convenience of any witness and the ends of justice."

Hendrick also has filed a motion to dismiss part of the action.

The case seeks the review of the Policy Committee's decision and also asks the court to declare the law creating the policy committee unconstitutional.

Hendrick said the "dual filing is implied legal overkill."

Attorneys for Boyd and the other plaintiffs say they brought the two actions "in an abundance of caution," and so they can pursue both the constitutionality of the law and the correctness of the ruling by the Gaming Policy Review Committee.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Mike Griffin, who has not ruled on any of the motions.

A group called Citizens of Spring Valley and the Surrounding Area, is asking to be made a party to the suit. The organization opposed the casino.

The Clark County Commission on Jan. 19 voted 3-1 with three abstentions to allow a gaming enterprise district in the area. Residents of Spring Valley then filed suit in Las Vegas to overturn the decision of the County Commission.

The citizens group also appealed to the Nevada Gaming Policy Review Committee, which on March 24 ruled the decision of the County Commission should be overturned.

C. Stanley Hunterton, attorney for the developers, said the state law setting up the review panel is unconstitutional because it applies only in Clark County.

Hunterton called the law special legislation that gave zoning authority over Clark County to an unelected executive agency, which does not require any of its members to be Clark County residents.

The suit, filed April 11, charges that the review committee deprived Nevso and Boyd of "valuable property rights with no due process of law," and it gives this unelected board "unfettered authority" to decide these issues.

The suit by the homeowners in Clark County has been held in abeyance while the action in Carson City is processed.

The 1997 law sought to restrict casinos in neighborhoods but allowed them if certain conditions were met.

Many in the Spring Valley area have opposed the construction of the casino for a variety of reasons.