Council delays action on Stratosphere ride

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2001 | 8:58 a.m.

Residents who planned to protest a 700-foot thrill ride at the Stratosphere believe a move by the Las Vegas City Council to delay a decision on the project amounts to a small victory.

But even with the council's decision to delay the site plan review for the proposed ride, people who live near the Stratosphere say they have the support they need to kill the project, scheduled to be presented to the council Nov. 7.

The residents, after hearing of the delay, rallied outside City Hall. Some promised to write additional letters of protest to the council and mayor.

Residents also say they have garnered the support of Councilman Gary Reese, who represents their area.

"Everyone is pretty united in this, and it's kind of amazing to see," said resident John Delikanakis, who joined 25 others opposed to the project. "They take this thing very seriously."

Attorney John T. Moran III, representing the Stratosphere, asked for the controversial item to be postponed, after several meetings with neighbors who oppose the project.

In a letter addressed to the mayor and council, Moran asked for the item to be postponed until he could "establish a committee, including Mayor Oscar Goodman and Reese, to meet with neighborhood residents in an effort to resolve several issues we have been dealing with.'

Reese, though, said it's not his job to convince residents to go along with the project. He said he would not be on the committee. Goodman, who was in Washington, could not be reached for comment.

"It is neighborhood-driven, and I am not going to go out there and lobby for something that I feel like is up to the applicant," Reese said.

City sources say the Stratosphere is considering running the thrill ride along Las Vegas Boulevard toward Sahara Avenue, instead of across Las Vegas Boulevard.

Reese said he is looking at the issue from the view of neighborhood residents.

"(The residents) are very strongly against it, they come out against it, and I have always looked at it ... if I wouldn't put it in my back yard, I wouldn't put it in their back yard," Reese said.