Parking lot battle stalls at County Commission

Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004 | 9:27 a.m.

Call it Battle of the Strip Titans: Round 4. Or call it the Squabble over Parking Spaces.

Whatever the title, the war between Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn landed back before the Clark County Commission on Wednesday, and the day ended with a promise to return in two weeks.

Representatives for the rival Strip hotel developers have battled since June over Adelson's juggling of five different parking lots for his employees and construction workers, an act the commission is requiring before he can build his 3,000-room second phase for The Venetian.

Adelson's representatives, including former senator and governor Richard Bryan and Venetian Vice President Fred Kraus, presented an hourlong dissertation on the security efforts the resort has instituted to keep its workers from parking at neighboring properties, a condition imposed on The Venetian before the county would approve its construction plans.

"If we fail to comply with the conditions imposed upon us, shut us down," Bryan said.

But as they have before, Wynn's representatives said the parking efforts have been inadequate and would likely stay that way.

Wynn lawyer Frank Schreck argued that the remote parking lots leased by The Venetian are not being used, forcing Venetian customers to continue to seek parking spaces on the asphalt of the resort's rivals.

"People are parking somewhere else," Schreck told the commission. "They are parking all over the place."

Bryan and land-use consultant Greg Borgel argued that the issue before the county commission Wednesday was the needed approval for a new parking lot at Spring Mountain Road and Valley View Boulevard, and that efforts to block that approval would not help the parking situation.

Following two hours of discussion, the commission approved the 10-acre lot, but not before requiring Adelson's troops to come back before the board in two weeks. One of the requirements imposed by the commission is that The Venetian must independently audit the effort to have its employees park in designated areas, away from its competitors' parking lots.

Commissioners Myrna Williams and Yvonne Atkinson Gates, however, questioned the impartiality of the certified public accountant hired by The Venetian for the audit.

" I think we need to do a little more due diligence and I don't think that has occurred," Gates said.

The commission told The Venetian representatives to come back before the board in two weeks, when it can impose the additional requirement that the accountant auditing the resort's parking practices be selected by the county's building department.

The vote to approve the parking lot for The Venetian was 5-1, with Gates casting the dissenting vote.