Supreme Court rejects appeal over off-ramp land

Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday rejected the appeal of a housing developing firm that argued Clark County owed it millions of dollars in a condemnation case.

The court, in a unanimous decision, upheld a District Court jury that awarded $152,000 in damages and interest to Monument Pointe Ltd. for 549 square feet condemned by Clark County for the construction of the Valle Verde Drive on-ramp to Interstate 215 in Henderson.

In briefs submitted to the court, Monument Pointe felt it should have received $3.5 million because of the loss of sales. The limited liability company had purchased about 14 acres from Green Valley Development Limited Partnership and planned 104 homes.

In September 1995, Clark County announced it planned to build an interchange through the subdivision, suggesting that several lots would be condemned. That announcement caused home sales to drop, according to the Monument Pointe's lawsuit.

The company also argued that District Judge Michael Douglas, who is now on the Supreme Court and did not sit with the high court for the appeal, erred at the District Court trial when he allowed evidence to show that Monument Pointe knew about the possible condemnation before it purchased the property.

The court said Douglas was wrong to allow the evidence to be admitted at trial but he corrected the problem when he instructed the jury that the prior knowledge of the condemnation had nothing to do with the value of the property that was condemned.

Monument Pointe also argued that Douglas should have allowed an expert witness to testify that the proposed beltway construction negatively impacted sales. The state's high court said Clark County presented evidence of actual home sales and "expert testimony concerning planned sales was unnecessary and cumulative."

The court also rejected the cross-appeal of Clark County that it was entitled to attorney fees. Mary Miller, county counsel, said the decision was a clear victory for the county. She noted that the appeal came from the developers.

"It means the county's arguments at trial, which the jury accepted, were legally sound," she said. "It's good news."