Casino news source: North County Times - http://www.nctimes.com
Dismissal of suit that seeks to halt Sparks casino prompts appeal
By: Associated Press Wire Reports -
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Opponents of a Sparks neighborhood casino backed by developer Harvey Whittemore are taking their fight to the Nevada Supreme Court.
The Sparks Nugget hotel-casino and a group of residents filed an appeal Friday over a district judge's dismissal of their lawsuit seeking to block a controversial settlement that allowed the Lazy 8 to move forward.
"This appeal is really about having the case heard on the merits and not being set aside on technicalities manufactured by the opposition," Nugget spokeswoman Beth Cooney told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Lazy 8 spokesman Carlos Vasquez said he had not seen the appeal but remained confident that developers would prevail.
"We think we've done the right thing all along," he said. "If it ends up at the U.S. Supreme Court, we'll end up with the same outcome."
Last month, Washoe County District Judge Jerome Polaha ruled in favor of Peppermill Casinos and Whittemore's Red Hawk Land Co., which plan to build the resort along the Pyramid Highway in Spanish Springs Valley.
The Sparks City Council voted against the Lazy 8 last August, and developers then sued the city for $100 million. The city settled the lawsuit a week later by allowing Whittemore and the Peppermill to continue with the project.
The settlement -- first approved in a secret meeting and later during a public vote -- reversed the council vote.
A subsequent lawsuit by the Nugget and citizens claimed the developers' suit was "trumped up," and the agreement circumvented a required master plan amendment.
Polaha said he was concerned that hearing the case would go against an earlier settlement between Red Hawk and the city that was signed by another judge.
"We've felt all along ... that this location is not in the city's master plan and that the developers needed to go through the master-plan amendment process," Cooney said.
"It's never been reviewed by an impartial third party. It's only been reviewed by Red Hawk and the city, and they're both on the same side," she added.
Citizens living near the project site fear increased traffic and a drag on home values. The Nugget is expected to take a 10 percent to 16 percent revenue hit with a new competitor, according to Wells Gaming Research of Reno.
Developers maintain they have a right to move a project that was approved but never built at the nearby Wingfield Springs subdivision. They hope to break ground on the casino next year. |
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