BLM wants land near speedway auctioned

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, July 21, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Las Vegas Motor Speedway should have to get public land for a new parking lot through an auction rather than a simple sale, a Bureau of Land Management official told a Senate panel Wednesday.

But Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., told the panel an auction would allow the land to be used for purposes other than a parking lot, which would not work in this case.

The Nevada congressional delegation has introduced legislation to sell roughly 110 acres of BLM land to the speedway for its appraised value, but the administration thinks an auction will get more money for the land.

Lawrence Benna, BLM deputy director of operations, said the agency has no problems with the speedway getting the land for a new parking lot, but also wants to get the "maximum return to the government."

"Based on previous sales in Clark County, Nevada, it is likely that the land identified for conveyance in (the bill) would be sold at a much higher price than their appraised value if the sale was completed through a competitive procedure," Benna told a Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee Wednesday.

The land has not been appraised yet, and Benna did not want to speculate on its value. He noted, though, that land sold through BLM auctions almost always goes for above the appraised value.

Ensign, who testified before the subcommittee, said the land is outside the boundary for disposable BLM land under the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. An auction could allow real estate developers to purchase it and use it for something "inconsistent with local planning," he said, and the speedway would still not have a parking lot.

"As the author of SNPLMA, I have not supported direct sales of land within the disposal boundary because I believe competition brings the highest price and return to taxpayers in a region where land is valuable and expensive," Ensign said.

"However, there will inevitably be a few instances where a direct sale is warranted. The economic benefit derived from the speedway events is important to all citizens in Southern Nevada.

The bill also would allow the land sale money to be distributed the same way as it is through the public lands act, with 5 percent going to the state education program, 10 percent to the Southern Nevada Water Authority and 85 percent for resource programs.

Benna objected to this as well because even though the land is outside the public lands act boundary, he wants the sale proceeds to go into the general treasury.

Ensign responded, "This should scare every Western senator. No other state is treated this way."

Ensign and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced the bill calling for the land sale in April.

Nevada Republican Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley have sponsored an identical bill in the House.