Station cuts off talk with activists fighting casinos

Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.

The battle between Station Casinos and a cadre of community activists who have fought the company's plans to develop neighborhood casinos in Summerlin and Spring Valley is heating up.

The activists, among them Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, received an e-mail notice from a Station Casinos consultant Thursday that the company would not be meeting with them to discuss a design review on sign issues affecting Red Rock Station, the hotel under construction on West Charleston Boulevard that sparked a battle over height issues earlier this year.

Many of the same group of activists are fighting a planned hotel at Durango Drive and the Las Vegas Beltway that Station Casinos is calling Durango Station.

A design review for the signs to go up at Red Rock Station as well as several needed approvals for Durango Station are scheduled for the Clark County Commission zoning meeting Wednesday, Dec. 8.

Terry Murphy, the consultant for the company, sent an e-mail to Mayo-DeRiso saying that because of the work activists have done opposing Durango Station, a meeting scheduled for Thursday night was canceled.

"As the meeting we'd scheduled included people who have engaged in recent political activities against Station Casinos ... Mr. (Scott) Nielson (Station Casinos vice president) has decided to cancel that meeting," the e-mail said. "The company will be meeting with a variety of neighborhood groups but will not be meeting with activists who appear to be specifically targeting them."

Murphy referred questions about the meeting cancellation to Station Casinos executives Nielson and Leslie Pittman, who were both out of town Thursday night and unavailable for comment.

Mayo-DeRiso, who does not live in the southwest Las Vegas township of Spring Valley or Summerlin, has served as a visible spokeswoman for neighborhood groups fighting a number of zoning issues before the Clark County Commission.

She has acknowledged receiving financial support from the Culinary Union -- which has longstanding enmity with the nonunion Station Casinos -- in the opposition to Durango Station. She also has said that she believes the hotel, approved by both Clark County and state legislation in legal moves dating back to 1997, does not have a guaranteed right to be built.

The perspective is a clear challenge to Station Casinos, which argues it has the legal basis for building the hotel, although the work might not go forward for at least several years.

The Durango Station issue is shaping up to be a replay of the Red Rock Station controversy. The company, which again had state and local approvals to build the casino near the beltway in Summerlin, eventually agreed to lop off a third of the proposed tower height of 300 feet.

While many residents welcomed the compromise and the relative peace that ensued afterward, others remain unhappy that the Summerlin casino is going forward.

Mayo-DeRiso said Station Casinos should still continue to meet with her and her allies, among them Summerlin resident Gabe Lither and Spring Valley resident Carolyn Edwards.

"They are refusing to meet with us," she said. "The more people who get involved, the more who come to the table, the better chance we have of getting a solution that would be a winning solution for the bigger part of the population.

"We'd love to continue dialogue with them," Mayo-DeRiso said.

Murphy said Station Casinos has recently met with residents near the Red Rock Station site and will meet with at least some residents at both locations.

"We will meet with residents near Durango Station when there is a design to talk about," she said. "We will continue to talk with residents of Summerlin and Red Rock on the signage issue."