Columnist Jeff German: Hoops war is officially out of hand

Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003 | 11:15 a.m.

With all that we have to worry about -- the Columbia tragedy, war with Iraq, raising taxes -- a spat over basketball hoops in the streets should be way down the priority list.

Unless you live in the master-planned community of Summerlin North.

It's rather sad that one of the biggest issues for Summerlin North residents during these uncertain times is whether portable basketball hoops can remain in front of their homes 24 hours a day.

Over the past year, as the Summerlin North Community Association has aired out the controversy at public meetings, both sides have courted the media, threatened lawsuits, and spent thousands of dollars on polls trying to bolster their positions.

Through it all, stubbornness, not compromise, has prevailed.

Both sides have refused to sit down together to resolve the dispute so that everyone can move on and worry about more important things in life.

This week strident homeowners protesting an association rule barring the hoops and sour-faced members of the Summerlin North association are escalating the fight. They're dragging the City Council into it.

City staffers and attorneys have spent much time the past two months studying local ordinances barring obstructions in the streets in anticipation of Wednesday's council meeting to determine whether the city should intervene.

Councilman Larry Brown, whose ward includes Summerlin North, has met separately with both sides but has failed to get them to settle their differences.

If the combatants are expecting the City Council to step in and resolve the conflict on Wednesday, they're probably going to be disappointed.

City Manager Doug Selby says the city doesn't want to put itself in the position of taking sides between homeowners and their ruling associations. That would set a dangerous precedent that could land the city in court and tie up valuable everyday resources that should be devoted to dealing with real city issues, such as the homeless and redevelopment.

So unless the council overrides the city manager, it merely will be going through the motions during Wednesday's meeting.

Brown and other City Council members will make speeches for the media, residents opposed to the hoops ban will cry foul once more and the Summerlin homeowners association will defend its right to harass those who break its silly rule.

Very little will be accomplished other than wasting a lot of time and taxpayer dollars, and of course, no compromise will be announced.

A simple solution was proposed in this space 10 days ago -- let the residents vote on whether they want a basketball hoop 24-7 on their block.

But the residents of Summerlin North, it seems, would rather fight with each other and make fools of themselves than strike a compromise.