Residents want county to shoot down race

Jace Radke

Monday, Jan. 6, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

Big-time racing in Las Vegas usually means the annual NASCAR Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway or a televised feed of the Kentucky Derby in a crowded race book.

But a 300-mile race that draws participants from around the world and pays more than $500,000 in prize money has quietly established its finish line in a neighborhood in the southern part of the Las Vegas Valley.

Since 2001 the annual "Vegas Race" has featured more than 600 homing pigeons flying over the deserts of Arizona and Nevada. Until now the pigeons have flown under the radar of Clark County officials -- but complaints from homeowners could result in this past weekend's race being the series finale.

Neighbors who live around a huge pigeon loft at the race's finish line at 7575 Fairfield Ave. say they find dead pigeons and fecal matter all over their property.

The area, zoned "ranch estates," is near Warm Springs Road and Interstate 15 in the unincorporated community of Enterprise.

"There are hundreds of birds here seven months out of the year, and they fly in big circles pooping on everyone's cars and houses," said Roy Morris, 50, who lives next door to the lot that includes a loft that can house more than 1,000 pigeons. "We've got a bug problem because of all the fecal matter, and we have grandchildren and pets that we're afraid will get sick."

Race organizer Suvit Asawapornsnit decided he would go forward with this past weekend's race despite being cited early Saturday morning by the county for his lack of permits.

He was lacking a special event permit and a "prohibited use" permit, county officials said.

"I've got people coming in from all over the world for this race, and the birds are already on their way, so what can I do?" Asawapornsnit said Saturday morning as he set up tables and chairs for what is one of the biggest pigeon races in the world. "I will just take the citations and go to court."

The two misdemeanor citations each carry a possible fine of $1,000 or six months in jail. The county's business licensing division is also investigating the event and could issue additional citations, officials said.

"He is basically running a commercial business in a residential-estates zoned area," county code enforcement specialist Dean Massey said. "He's got animals here that may not be allowed in this zone, he doesn't have a business license and the buildings here haven't been inspected and may not be up to code.

"There are a lot of problems."

On Dec. 19 Asawapornsnit, who lives in California, was denied a request for a use permit to hold the race by the Clark County Planning Commission. He has appealed the matter to the County Commissioners, who will hear the appeal on Jan. 22. Asawapornsnit is scheduled to appear in Clark County Justice Court on Jan. 24 on the citations Massey issued him.

More problems arose Saturday morning when three Nevada Gaming Control Board agents arrived to question Asawapornsnit.

Keith Copher, chief of enforcement for gaming control, said that agents interviewed Asawapornsnit based on complaints from neighbors.

"We had complaints from neighbors about the possibility that gambling may have been going on at the race," Copher said this morning. "We're looking into it but it doesn't appear that any pigeon wagers were taken."

Asawapornsnit said that there is "absolutely no gambling on the race."

While the problems mounted for Asawapornsnit, pigeon owners began to arrive Saturday, and soon more than 500 people were in the football field-sized lot chatting about the race.

Tour buses from the race's official hotel, the Monte Carlo, made stops along Fairfield every few minutes dropping off race fans. By 11 a.m. three blocks of Fairfield had become a parking lot -- another complaint of the neighbors.

There was a fair-like atmosphere as pigeon enthusiasts from 37 states and nine foreign countries ate homemade egg rolls and fried rice cooked in a giant wok by race staffers. Foreign countries represented in the race were Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, Holland, China, Scotland, Germany and England.

Joe Visscher, a 66-year-old retired lumber company owner from Vancouver, British Columbia, said the social aspect of pigeon racing is one of the main reasons he got involved in the sport.

"We make a holiday out of it, and spend a whole week in Las Vegas, so we can talk to the other people and meet all the racers from other parts of the world," said Visscher, who has been racing pigeons since 1975. "There is another real big race in South Africa every year, but this is one of the biggest races in the world."

A total of 608 pigeons were released at 6:50 a.m. Saturday in Why, Ariz., a small desert outpost near the Mexican border about 120 miles south of Phoenix. Upon release, the birds attempt to fly 300 miles to Las Vegas, avoiding the pitfalls of weather, power lines and natural predators such as hawks.

Pigeon owners begin sending Asawapornsnit birds in April to be housed in what Asawapornsnit says is one of the biggest racing lofts in the country. The loft is 128 feet long and 32 feet wide, and has eight sections lined with shoebox-sized cubby holes to house pigeons.

The birds are trained by Asawapornsnit and his staff for six months leading up to the race, so that the pigeons can find their way back to Las Vegas across 300 miles of desert.

"We first take them across the street and release them to fly back to the loft," Asawapornsnit said. "Then we take them a mile away and release them, then two miles, five miles, 10 miles, until we get to 300 miles."

The training process results in some of the neighbors' complaints, Massey said.

"When I met with him (Asawapornsnit) in December there must have been 1,500 birds wandering around," Massey said. "You couldn't walk without stepping on them."

Stepping on those birds would be the equivalent of kicking a Kentucky Derby horse, pigeon racer Rod Hanson said.

"These pigeons are just like any other prized athletes," said Hanson, a 53-year-old welder who lives near Fresno, Calif., and owns about 200 pigeons. "They can fly about 40 mph, and I like to think of them as thoroughbred horses. They have pedigrees that can date back to old European stock."

While the winners celebrated Saturday afternoon, neighbors living on the cul-de-sac next door had gathered outside to talk about another year of dealing with what they say is a plague of pigeons.

"He's running a business over there in what we thought was a residential neighborhood," said Larry Matzke, 64, who lives just north of the pigeon loft. "For half the year you have to wash your car every week to get all the bird droppings off. It's just gotten out of control."

Asawapornsnit says he wants to move the race and the loft to a new piece of property in northwest Las Vegas with no residential property around it for next year's event. Whatever happens, Asawapornsnit says he will continue to organize the race in Las Vegas.

"Vegas is the only place to have this race," he said. "People want to come on vacation here and be able to enjoy their hobby at the same time."

Asawapornsnit estimated that the race fills at least 400 hotel rooms, and also includes the renting out of conference rooms at the Monte Carlo for the auctions and for guest speakers over the weekend. Asawapornsnit estimates that the race brings hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to the county.

"I guess I'm in trouble with the county, but the race is bringing in a lot of business for them, and is helping City of Hope," Asawapornsnit said.