Threat of homes replacing holes stirs neighbors

By Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The fire of opposition was stoked last week at a meeting of more than 100 neighbors of Las Vegas National Golf Course.

The homeowners vowed to fight any effort to build homes atop the 18-hole, 130-acre course. Investors bought the course a year ago for $32.2 million and plan to submit a tentative map to the county showing the course replaced by 485 homes.

What happened at the meeting?

Paradise Palms homeowner Wayne “Skip” Cummins said lots of talk centered on the potential legal expense of fighting the would-be developers. “Some people already had their checkbooks out,” he said.

A trust account has been set up for the neighborhood legal fund.

The course, west of Eastern Avenue and south of Desert Inn Road, is historic not only because it is one of the oldest in Las Vegas but also as the place where Tiger Woods won his first pro title.

Did the original deed for the golf course stipulate that homes could not be built on it?

“We heard that, but no one has been able to verify it,” Cummins said.

The Sun searched records of the Clark County recorder and assessor looking for any such wording on original deeds, but could not find it.

What does Irwin Molasky, the course developer, say about the original intent for the course? Did he expect it to one day become a housing development?

Molasky said last week the idea of homes never occurred to him. “I can tell you as a straight-out fact: There was never any contemplation of that being anything but a golf course,” he said.

He also, however, did not remember any kind of deed restriction against homes.

“The fact is, it is just anathema to me to even think they would take that beautiful course and put houses on it,” he added. “We brought the Tournament of Champions there. It was a proud thing for the community, and to see it subdivided would just go against my grain.”

Molasky disagreed with Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani’s statement in the Sun that there is little the county can do to stop course owners from submitting a development map.

“Well, there’s a hell of a lot that can be done about it,” he said. “And if I lived there, I would take a very active part in voicing my opposition to this.”

Residents are planning another organizational meeting in a few weeks.

•••

“Cash and marry” certainly has a better ring to it than “credit and marry,” but the latter phrase is the one thousands of wannabe newlyweds should start to remember.

Why?

Because on Tuesday the Clark County Commission will consider an agreement to accept credit card payment for marriage licenses at the county’s Marriage Bureau.

Currently, couples can pay the $55 marriage license fee only with cash.

Through the proposed five-year agreement, vendor American Cadastre would provide the Marriage Bureau with hardware and training at no cost. The county already has software in place to handle the transactions.

American Cadastre’s revenue would come from the $5 convenience fee tacked onto the $55 license fee.

That’s quite a haul when you consider that 108,000 cash-only transactions for marriage licenses were handled in 2007.

One more stipulation of the agreement is that the vendor can increase the convenience fee, but only with Clark County’s approval.

If the agreement passes, look for some slick marketer to figure out how to make “Credit and Marry” sound as inviting as “What happens here ...”