Proposed casino near I-15 rejected by planning panel

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000 | 11:52 a.m.

A request to extend permission to build a casino in an industrial area near Cheyenne Avenue and Interstate 15 had the North Las Vegas Planning Commission wrangling again Wednesday with the issue of neighborhood casinos.

The board's focus in recent months has been on a proposal by Station Casinos Inc. to build a gaming complex on Craig Ranch Golf Course or farther down Craig Road. Neighbors have protested both plans, citing the proximity to their homes, but planners forwarded a rezoning request to the City Council for the golf course location.

Planners wrestled with neighborhood casinos again Wednesday when Hart Volland Enterprises asked for an extension of a zoning change and special use permit for its proposed casino on Losee Road. Though no neighbors protested, commissioners were not as open to the request.

The plans for the 5-acre parcel had been approved before state Senate Bill 208, which restricts gaming to established corridors, went into effect Jan. 1, 1999, but Hart Volland's special use permit for a hotel-casino expired Aug. 26, and the zoning change is set to expire Oct. 7. The state law requires any new neighborhood casinos outside existing gaming corridors to be built by 2002.

The members of the planning board have changed, but the circumstances of the proposal have not, argued Thomas Amick, who represented the land owners. The casino is still at a prime location and the surrounding uses are industrial, the best place for a casino, he said.

The commissioners disagreed, voting 4-3 to deny the application, with some members pointing out that the location is no longer suited for a neighborhood casino. The decision will automatically be appealed to the City Council.

Amick said the company is trying to find a casino operator and had put the plans on hold while work on the freeway interchange was completed.

Proposed site plans show a 20,300-square-foot casino, a six-story, 220-room hotel and a three-story parking garage.

The casino parcel is surrounded by industrial uses, including a truck stop, a tire company, lumberyard and construction companies. It is also located just west of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

Amick said it is a perfect location for a casino, because it will not affect a residential neighborhood.

"This is where gaming uses are intended to go," he said, adding that the property is in a gaming overlay district.

Commissioner Anita Wood pointed out that the casino parking lot does not have enough room to allow oversized trucks to turn around.

"The problems that were wrong with this before haven't been changed," she said. "This is just not planned to a point where you work with the neighborhood where you want to move in."

The Speedway Casino is across I-15 from the site.

Commissioner Harry Shull voted in favor of the project, saying, "It isn't impacting residential areas. It is a great location."