Social Security building back in court

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005 | 10:56 a.m.

Residents who sued to keep a planned Social Security building from their Las Vegas neighborhood are asking a judge to order the City Council not to vote on the matter today as scheduled and to postpone further council action on the project until after the judge clarifies his earlier ruling.

At issue is if District Judge Kenneth Cory's Nov. 30 order means prominent developer Irwin Molasky must bring his project through the entire zoning approval process again, which would include another round of meetings with neighbors, going before the City Planning Commission again, and then before the council.

Or if Cory's order means the council must take another vote on a now-complete application for a change in the land-use plan, which the council is scheduled to do during the afternoon portion of today's council meeting.

Cory was scheduled to hold a hearing today on whether or not to block the council vote. Stan Parry, the attorney for the neighbors who sued to block the building, said he requested today's hearing on Tuesday.

In his earlier ruling, Cory said the original application accompanying a request for a change to the city's general land-use plan needed for Molasky's project was missing a necessary document and therefore was incomplete.

Cory ordered the council to take another vote on the general plan amendment, which would change the city's overall development plan for that property and was needed to clear the way for a zoning change and specific plan approvals for the project.

Last December, the council voted 4-3 to revise the city plan governing land use and rezone the 4.26-acre plot on Buffalo Drive and Del Ray Avenue, across the street from Buffalo Park, clearing the way for the building.

The single-story office building is already under construction.

If Cory agrees to block the council vote, a full hearing to clarify his earlier ruling is scheduled for Jan. 10.

If Cory allows the council to proceed and vote on the matter today, that could act as a de facto decision on Parry's request for clarification.

Opponents of Councilwoman Janet Moncrief have said her inability to defeat the project the first time around shows her inability to protect her ward from unwanted development. Moncrief now faces a Jan. 25 recall election.

If, or when, the matter returns to the council, it appears the project would again win council approval again.

One of the four council members who voted for the project in December 2003 is no longer on the council. Lynette Boggs McDonald, now on the Clark County Commission, has been replaced by Councilman Steve Wolfson. Wolfson said he does not yet know how he would vote on the matter.

However, Councilman Gary Reese, who along with Moncrief and Mayor Oscar Goodman voted against the matter originally, said he would now back the project. Reese said he feels like the council already acted on the project and he would not vote to overturn the previous council action.