Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Court rules against Laughlin resort projects

The Nevada Supreme Court has backed the Clark County Commission in refusing to approve plans by two companies to develop multiple hotel-casinos in Laughlin.

The court said RB Properties Inc. and South Pointe Properties Inc. failed to get the necessary land-use applications and their claims were not ready for decisions. And RB Properties didn't get the required gaming license, it said.

The companies argued they spent "millions of dollars" to develop the South Bay Hotel/Casino Complex. But the Clark County Commission changed the resort ordinance knowing the companies could not comply, said the two companies.

They argued that the ordinance was changed without a good reason and that the change constituted "a regulatory taking" of their property. They say they had a constitutionally protected property interest in gaming.

Attorneys for the two companies said the Clark County Commission made it impossible to obtain the necessary licenses to develop the South Bay project.

The Supreme Court backed up the pretrial ruling of District Judge Elizabeth Goff Gonzales because the companies failed "to submit the necessary applications for land-use approvals or for a gaming license."

"RB Properties does not have a constitutionally protected property right to gaming," said the court.

"At the time of the alleged taking, RP Properties had only obtained H-1 zoning on part of its property and had not applied for any of the other land use approvals or the gaming license that the Clark County code required to establish a resort hotel with a casino," said the court.

It added, "Even if RB Properties had obtained a gaming license and a use permit, that alone would be insufficient to comprise a constitutionally protected property right."

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