Residents relieved casino not in project

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002 | 9:22 a.m.

A zoning dispute before the Clark County Commission was "deja vu all over again" for a developer's attorneys, commissioners and residents of a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood.

Triple Five Nevada Development Corp. in 1999 and 2000 sought to build a 300-room, $300 million casino on a site originally slated for a shopping center near Grand Canyon Drive and West Flamingo Road. County commissioners approved the project by a narrow margin, but a state review panel and state courts, citing a new law designed to keep casinos out of residential areas, overturned the decision.

Triple Five returned to the County Commission on Wednesday seeking an extension of the zoning the board granted in January 2000. Residents feared a Trojan horse maneuver to bring back the casino.

"Why are we even here?" asked Cheralin Zaugg, a neighbor of the site. "We're really concerned about the intent here ... We still do not want a casino in our area."

Attorney Mark Fiorentino, representing Triple Five, said those fears were misplaced. While the zoning permits a casino, state law prohibits extending the county's "gaming enterprise district" to the area, he said.

The "H-1" zoning that surrounds the county's casinos also allows for restaurants to be closer and for looser design standards, compared to ordinary commercial zoning, Fiorentino said.

"We give up," Fiorentino said, assuring residents that Triple Five wants a shopping center, not a casino. He said an extension of the zoning in place will help the developers recover some of the $500,000 they spent trying to build the casino.

Fiorentino offered -- and the commissioners accepted -- to include a deed restriction before any sale of the property barring development of a casino at the site.

The commission approved 5-0 the zoning extension with a three-year time limit.

"We're happy with the deed restriction," Zaugg said.

Two years ago former Commissioner Lance Malone's vote to approve the doomed casino has been cited as the act that broke his political career. The only vote against the casino came from Commissioner Dario Herrera.