Wednesday, March 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
District Judge Nancy Becker has decided she has horsed around long enough with the case of Jacque Fitzgerald's Sagebrush Ranch in northwest Las Vegas.
Months of legal wrangling ended Tuesday when Becker issued an injunction ordering that Fitzgerald can no longer operate outside the bounds of the law.
The judge declared that Fitzgerald's livery stable license gives her the right to board and rent horses, but she can't legally conduct riding schools or arrange trail rides for large groups.
That is what Fitzgerald had been doing for years, although it drew the ire of neighbors over the past three years as development spread in the once-isolated area.
Becker had been urged by Deputy District Attorney Robert Gower to toss out the lawsuit that had kept the Sagebrush Ranch operating despite a flurry of citations by county licensing officials.
"It's time to conclude this case," Gower said. "We have won. They are operating illegally."
For Fitzgerald, the options are dwindling as she struggles to stay in the saddle.
Her attorney, George Ogilvie, said Fitzgerald will again approach the Clark County Commission in hopes of winning the elusive use permit that would allow her to get back to business as usual.
Ogilvie noted that the composition of the commission changed with last year's election and Fitzgerald hopes to have better luck with the new crew.
The application for the use permit is expected to be filed Thursday with a hearing before the County Planning Commission on April 19 and another before the County Commission on May 3.
"If my client doesn't get the permit, she is going to be out of business -- if she can last that long," Ogilvie said, lamenting the high cost of feed for the horses. He then asked Becker to postpone enforcement of the injunction until after the commission rules.
But the judge said Fitzgerald simply shouldn't operate her riding school until she gets the proper permit.
"That's how it applies for anyone else," she said, while sympathizing with Fitzgerald's financial dilemma.
"I fully understand the emotional consequences of having to sell your animals," Becker said. "But that may be a fact of life, no matter how difficult."
After the hearing, Fitzgerald vowed to hold onto her more than 20 horses until after the County Commission meeting that she knows will be stacked with opposing neighbors.
Those opponents, she said, represent only two households while she has 11 neighbors that approve of her business.
The loudest complaints during the past three years have come from Mike and Debra Stephens, whose home borders the eastern side of the 2-acre ranch on West Verde Way, just west of Durango Drive at Lone Mountain Road.
The Stephenses and other neighbors lodged formal complaints with Clark County about the 20 to 50 horses that are used for riding lessons, trail rides, campfire nights and birthday parties for dozens of children almost on a daily basis.
Neighbors said horse manure accumulates at the ranch, creating health hazards. They also say the children are noisy and out of control.
County code enforcement officers have issued numerous citations against the ranch.
Fitzgerald has said the Stephenses and other complaining neighbors should not have moved into horse country if they wanted an urban lifestyle.
Although Fitzgerald lost the civil case, her days in court are not over. She is scheduled to be in Justice Court on Friday to answer the criminal citations.
Gower indicated, however, that the district attorney's office is willing to delay action on the criminal cases until the outcome of the use permit application -- suggesting that dismissal is possible if the permit is granted.
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