Council to hear auto mall plan

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, July 31, 2001 | 11:04 a.m.

After enduring a backlash from the rejection of a new-car dealership outside the Town Center limits in northwest Las Vegas, the City Council Wednesday will attempt for the second time to introduce an ordinance that would create a concept similar to the Henderson Valley Auto Mall.

Councilman Michael Mack introduced the ordinance June 20, two weeks after he led a motion to deny a car dealership proposed by John Staluppi Jr. outside the Town Center limits on Rancho Drive.

The ordinance would amend the city's zoning code by requiring new-car dealers to locate inside the Town Center area on at least 50 acres.

But Mack withdrew his ordinance at the July 5 meeting, the same day the council -- at Mack's request -- reconsidered the dealership application.

Mack asked for the ordinance to be placed back on the agenda so that he could abstain from voting on it. He said he needed to abstain because he discovered that he had an outstanding $60,000 loan from a rival car dealer, Joseph Scala.

The decision to deny the dealership -- twice -- has resulted in ethics charges against Mack to the Las Vegas Ethics Board and Nevada Ethics Commission. It has also resulted in a lawsuit seeking the removal of Mack and Councilman Larry Brown from office. The lawsuit alleges the two councilmen tried to broker a deal between Staluppi and Scala.

Staluppi is still fighting the City Council's original decision to deny his dealership and has asked a District Court judge to overturn the decision. A hearing date has not been set.

The ordinance is scheduled to be reintroduced at Wednesday's council meeting, but this time it will be sponsored by Brown. Brown, who represents a portion of the northwest but not the area in question. But he served the entire northwest from 1997 to 1999, before a new ward was created.

Brown is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

The new ordinance requires any new-car dealer north of Cheyenne Avenue to find a location that is at least 50 acres in size and include a minimum of five new-car dealerships.

The result would be similar to Henderson's 137-acre auto mall, which was born out of an ordinance adopted in the early 1990s.

After the ordinance is introduced, it will be forwarded to a recommending committee, and the City Council will make a final decision next month.

Town Center is an emerging master-planned area near U.S. 95 and Centennial Parkway designed to keep commercial properties from intruding into existing rural neighborhoods in the northwest.