Thursday, June 4, 1998 | 10:16 a.m.
Henderson officials will no longer accept applications for "limited gaming" casinos -- those with 75 to 199 slot machines or gaming devices and a maximum of nine table games.
Assistant City Attorney Liza Conroy said Wednesday that the state passed a law in 1992 banning smaller establishments. A grace period was granted, giving developers the choice to apply with the city or the state.
While the city thought it knew of each application being processed for limited casinos, she said, it learned that many had been approved only by the state.
"We thought we knew every single site where this would happen," Conroy said of the smaller gaming establishments. "A few places went to the state and never came to us at the time. Suddenly, applications for limited gaming were popping up."
As of Tuesday, only applicants who filed with the city in 1992 are permitted to build new limited gaming casinos. Developers who want more than 15 slot machines must offer hotel rooms, a much more expensive venture.
Conroy said the city is also becoming less lenient about extending use permits for casinos. Some casinos have sprung up in inappropriate areas because during the extension period, neighborhoods filled surrounding undeveloped land.
"Some casinos were approved in the Green Valley area along Lake Mead," Conroy said. "For the most part, those casinos were identified early on by developers when there was no development in that area."
The current City Council is taking a closer look at new applications for casinos -- especially hotel-casinos -- near neighborhoods.
A use permit for a 200-room hotel-casino near Boulder Highway and Racetrack Road was denied in April. An extension for the Old Vegas casino on Boulder Highway was rejected and the council is scrutinizing Sunset Station's application for a new, smaller casino.
"The council is looking very carefully at that one," Conroy said. "It's not a question of abutting a residential area, it's about how they want the Sunset corridor to develop. Small casinos lining the road affects the whole corridor."
Hotel-casinos that are approved, most recently the Santa Fe on Sunset Road, are asked to provide amenities like movie theaters or ice-skating rinks that benefit families.
City Planning Director Mary Kay Peck said when proposals for casinos come before the City Council, droves of residents from adjacent neighborhoods attend.
"I think there has always been a certain amount sensitivity in Henderson," Peck said. "People are concerned about the impact on neighborhoods. If there is a hotel tower, there is a loss of privacy. There are concerns about noise and odors and crime."
Conroy said casinos must be 500 feet from existing residential neighborhoods and 1,500 feet from schools or religious institutions. But that doesn't necessarily protect residents from drunken drivers.
Henderson Police Chief Tommy Burns said studies show that casinos don't generate crime that affects neighborhoods. Crimes frequently associated with casinos -- auto burglaries, auto thefts and pick-pocketing -- are just as common in other areas where a large group of people convene.
He added, however, that casinos are responsible for ensuring that their patrons don't drive drunk.
"Casinos don't attract criminals that will go into neighborhoods," Burns said. "There are a lot of issues involved in neighborhood casinos, but our experience is casinos in themselves don't generate crime."
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