Residents win round in fight against ride

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

Neighbors may have won a round in their fight against the Stratosphere's plans to build a thrill ride near their homes, but the battle is far from over.

Following the Las Vegas City Council's unanimous decision Wednesday night to deny the casino's plan for a 510-foot thrill ride, Stratosphere attorney John Moran Jr. said he has already prepared a lawsuit that he will file against the city in District Court in the coming days.

Moran said the Stratosphere met all six conditions for a site development plan review required by Title 19a of Las Vegas Zoning Code, including that the project is compatible with adjacent development. City staff recommended approval of the ride, based on those six conditions.

"The council had no basis to deny the application," Moran said. "They should have followed the recommendation of their own staff."

Moran said the lawsuit will argue, in part, that the council's decision was "arbitrary and capricious."

After a hearing that lasted more than two hours, the council voted 6-0 against the ride, despite the Stratosphere's favorable traffic and noise studies and pledges to bring millions of dollars in tax revenue to the city's coffers. Councilman Michael Mack abstained from the vote. His brother, Steven Mack, owns a nearby Superpawn that would be affected by the council's decision, the councilman said.

The council members said the thrill ride -- which would cross Las Vegas Boulevard and head up a steel tower fronting Paradise Road near homes -- was not compatible with the neighborhoods east of the Stratosphere, where residents are buying and fixing up homes in a once decaying part of town.

"From my perspective, my vision as mayor of the city of Las Vegas is to have a revitalized downtown," Mayor Oscar Goodman said. "One of the most important elements is to have people move back into a neighborhood which is decaying and to revitalize that neighborhood. If those folks in the neighborhood feel this project is such that it will destroy their qualify of life, I must support the neighborhood."

John Delikanakis, president of the Beverly Green neighborhood association, said the council's vote didn't just send a message to the residents east of the Stratosphere, but to all residents.

"The message the City Council sent to residents all over the city is that Las Vegas is a good place to live, where you can buy a house, fix it up, and become the center of things," he said.

The Stratosphere first proposed in August a ride that would carry passengers in an enclosed car 700 feet above Las Vegas Boulevard South before letting them drop face-down at 122 miles per hour. The ride originally was planned to cross the Strip and climb a 416-foot steel-truss structure on the opposite side of the boulevard before stopping.

With a defeat by the Planning Commission in October and signs that the council would also give the ride a thumbs down, the Stratosphere withdrew its application in November, vowing to bring the ride back in some form.

Before a scaled-back version was presented to the council on Wednesday, Stratosphere officials had threatened to revive a previously approved "Gorilla Ride" that would climb up the tower, and yanked funding from a proposed monorail station at its property. It also debated running the ride eastward toward Main Street or westward toward Sahara without crossing the Strip.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, a Democrat who represents the area, said the Stratosphere should not be rewarded for its scare and bullying tactics.

"You do not reward bad behavior," she said.

Richard Brown, chief operating officer of the Stratosphere, said the ride would secure more than 200 jobs that are desperately needed as the economy faces a downfall. It would also draw more than 700,000 tourists to the city. The city, facing a budget shortfall, could see $2 million in increased tax revenue as a result of the ride, Brown said.

After the meeting, Brown said the Stratosphere will pursue a legal remedy.

"This is what happens when politics supersedes law," Brown said. "We think our rights have been violated."