Property owner gets a break on fine, but others shouldn’t expect the same

By Sam Skolnik

Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 | 2 a.m.

City inspectors visited the dilapidated site on Jackson Avenue 44 times over a three-year period.

Officials demanded that the owner of the long-vacant building — labeled dangerous and a nuisance by the city — pay for forcing the city to finally demolish the structure and conduct an asbestos survey.

The maximum the City Council could have fined property owner, Dedra Edmond, in daily civil penalties was a whopping $426,550.

At the council meeting Wednesday, Edmond caught a big break. Council members voted unanimously to scrap the stiffest possible penalties and instead fine her just the cost of the demolition and the survey, $12,974, by placing a lien on the property.

Councilman Ricki Barlow said charging Edmond the full amount would be disproportionate to her offense. Councilman Steve Wolfson agreed, noting that Edmond at least showed up to plead her case, in contrast to some negligent property owners in trouble with the city.

Edmond told the council she took responsibility for her situation. She noted that over the past several years, she had had trouble maintaining the property.

The issue is timely. With the rising number of home foreclosures throughout the region, city officials are warning owners to avoid letting their vacated properties go to seed.

“The surge in foreclosures is adding to the blight from abandoned, neglected properties across Las Vegas,” city officials said in a news release, noting that October is National Code Compliance Month.

The City Council is sending a “strong message,” according to the release, by assessing $500-a-day civil penalties for abandoned and neglected properties that create blight.

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On Wednesday, the City Council unveiled the new marketing campaign for the “Mob Museum,” to be formally known as the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement.

Officials hinted at how the city is attempting to find an unmatched collection of mob artifacts and memorabilia for the museum, slated to open in 2010.

Nancy Deaner, manager of the city’s Cultural Affairs Office, has shared some details. In addition to getting what it can from the FBI, the city — assisted by the local nonprofit board that will run the museum and paid city consultants — has already started contacting:

• collectors, including those who specialize in Mafia memorabilia;

• the estate of U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver, who investigated organized crime in Las Vegas and nationwide;

• and the estates of various reputed and convicted mobsters.

Deaner said she was reluctant to say exactly which Mafioso offspring have been contacted for fear of disrupting ongoing discussions.

“A lot of people are willing to help us, because they know we’re not going to sensationalize, we’re going to tell the story truthfully,” Deaner said.

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Has a stray coyote just sauntered past your driveway? Has your neighbor’s pet python taken up residence in your garage? Did a colony of yellow-eyed feral cats suddenly decide to nest in your back yard?

If you’re facing such a creature crisis, you may have to wait a little longer for help to arrive from the city’s Animal Control Division.

The city this week announced the division will reduce its hours starting Sunday as a result of declining revenue.

Division officers will be on duty from

6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., seven days a week. They used to be on call from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Two animal control officers recently retired as a result of a new state law regarding health care coverage for retirees. Because of budget cutbacks, those jobs won’t be filled. Eleven city animal control officers remain.

“We want to maintain the best possible service to our citizens, but we must balance that with the realities of our current budget,” said Chief Karen Coyne of the Detention and Enforcement Department.