Nevada high court overturns ruling against North Las Vegas

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Monday ruled that North Las Vegas did not abuse its discretion when it limited the development sought by Saxton Inc., near the North Las Vegas Air Terminal.

The court reversed the ruling of District Judge Valorie Vega, who held the city acted arbitrarily in restricting the density.

"A city's decision to deny a rezoning request is a discretionary legislative action that is presumed to be correct," said the court in its unanimous decision.

Saxton Inc., which owns a 125-acre parcel near the terminal, sought permission to develop two-thirds of its property with a density of seven units per acre.

The city and the company, a publicly traded corporation, have battled for several years and have clashed in District Court at least twice in Las Vegas.

North Las Vegas resisted Saxton's various rezoning applications for residential development because of the location and the soil characteristics. Instead of the seven units per acre, the city approved only 5.75 units.

Vega ruled Saxton was entitled to rely on the master plan in effect when the property was purchased and when the firm submitted its rezoning application. That allowed seven units per acre. She ruled there was insufficient evidence shown by the city to deny the rezoning.

The Supreme Court said there was substantial evidence for the city to limit the development. There were concerns about the current and predicted noise levels over the Taylor ranch land, which is adjacent to one of the densest areas of air traffic at the terminal. And this was "reasonable grounds" for the city to reject Saxton's application, the court ruled.

The court also noted the city obeyed a previous court order that allowed 5.75 units per acre, "even though the master plan had since been changed to allow only office-business park development."