County may take back land leased for golf course

Stephen Curran

Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

The Clark County Commission could begin discussing next week whether to take back hundreds of acres leased to developer Billy Walters more than four years ago to build a golf course.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said this morning that he will discuss the plan, under which Walters would forfeit the land at Durango Drive and Warm Springs Road near Rhodes Ranch, with county staffers in coming days to "explore what our various options are."

Woodbury said as of this morning he had not discussed the matter with Walters.

"We're going to approach it on a cooperative basis and see what can be worked out," Woodbury said. "At least that's my intent. I haven't had the meeting with our staff and I haven't discussed it with commissioners."

The discussion could come as commissioners are expected to vote on an ordinance Woodbury introduced last month that would halt the construction of new golf courses in the county for up to three years or until officials declare the long-standing drought over.

It was unclear when the board is expected to formally vote on whether to retake Walter's land, Woodbury said.

County planners have estimated that the Las Vegas Valley's 50 golf courses use more than 8 percent of the region's water supply. Of those, 30 use reclaimed, or recycled, water, Southern Nevada Water Authority officials said.

Walters was out of town and was unavailable for comment this morning, his consultant Terry Murphy said. Murphy said he had only spoken briefly with Walters and could not say whether he planned to fight the possible county action.

"I had a brief conversation with him and he said, 'let me think about it,"' Murphy said. " ... I think when the moratorium was announced, everyone said, 'Oh, what does that mean?' "

Walters' company, Nevada Links Inc., has a lease on two county Aviation Department-owned parcels of land -- one for the proposed golf course, the other for a commercial development.

The commission voted in March 2004 to give Walters 24 months to begin construction of a 200-acre golf course, provided that enough water was available to support the facility. Under that agreement, failure to comply with that timeline would cost Walters any commercial land not under construction and a $500,000 bond he fronted for the project.

That plan met with skepticism among homeowners in southwest neighborhood, according to residents who spoke to the Sun last year.

"If we take it back I expect to get it (the land) for free," Woodbury said. "We shouldn't have to pay anything. The use for which it was intended is no longer a viable use, in my opinion. Therefore, we should approach Mr. Walters about terminating the agreement."

If Walters returns the land, Woodbury said he would like the county to build a more water-friendly park or recreation facility. The agreement could also allow the county to sell the land at auction, Woodbury said.