Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Las Vegas home to bullyism

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, June 20, 2002 | 8:28 a.m.

"It seems to me I've heard that song before."

The lyrics to an old ballad come to mind when I watch televised Las Vegas City Council and Clark County Commission hearings.

Time after time homeowners come before these political bodies to protest the incursion of unwanted developments in their neighborhoods.

In most cases, homeowners don't have a chance. Developers come to the hearings armed with expensive lawyers, rolls of maps and materials and high-pressure tactics. The homeowners often represent themselves with little but emotion on their side.

Sitting in judgment on these cases must be difficult for elected office holders. What can one say to a senior resident, who has lived in a home originally built as a dream home, when he or she is told that a giant corporation is planning a huge development on the property? The homeowner has little choice but to sell -- and at the corporation's price.

Whether it's a forced move from a mobile home or a mansion, it's heartbreak and disillusionment for the owner.

Home is more than just a building. Memories should never have to be sold to the highest bidder.

Several years back I had a good friend who built a lovely home on several acres near Arville Road. For years he had carried the plans for the house in his wallet, never doubting he would build his dream home. He wanted to have enough room so that his two sons could own horses.

After he accomplished his objective, others bought near him and built similar ranch-type dwellings. Bridle paths were constructed for everyone to use.

Everything was fine until developers began to see the potential for comparatively small single-family homes in the area. Zone variances were allowed and the original homes were surrounded. New families moved in and began to complain about the horses, flies and smell.

They were in the majority. The original owners were told to get rid of their horses.

I tell this story because it occurred quite some time back. Today the same thing is happening all over again in many areas of the valley.

I watched a middle-aged lady complain about having much less-expensive houses being built adjacent to custom homes of greater value.

"We bought in this area," she explained, "because we thought it was restricted to a certain-price home. Now we are being told it isn't so."

I remember a senior development that sold out quickly because of the promise that the developers planned a beautiful assisted living area for elderly people who might not be able to manage on their own.

What happened? The land became the site of 300 rental apartments. The hapless buyers of rather expensive homes and villas were left holding the bag.

It's an old story. All over the valley people are being uprooted from homes that had been intended as a refuge for their golden years. The law of eminent domain has been utilized when owners balk at selling.

We are all familiar with the downtown cases of seizure by eminent domain, which are still languishing in the courts. Even the desert tortoise gets more consideration when uprooted from his desert abode. It's growth. One public official flatly stated, "You can't stop progress, and who would want to?"

Sometimes, I wonder.