Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1997 | 10:06 a.m.
Northwest Las Vegas one day could be home to a 240-acre zoological and botanical park if the city can seal an agreement with Pat Dingle, who has a lease agreement with the state for the land.
The parcel is just south of Floyd Lamb State Park at the end of Durango Drive.
Dingle is the president of the Southern Nevada Zoological-Botanical Park, and owes the city $143,853 in a defaulted loan he received from the city for the Rancho Drive land the current zoo sits on.
In court proceedings with the city regarding the default, it was found that Dingle had only two assets: the current zoo and 240 acres of land leased from the state for a future zoo.
"That's quite a bit of land with a lot of promise," said David Roark, manager of the city's real estate division. "Mr. Dingle was never able to do anything with it."
The land, if the city does receive it, most likely would have to be used as a zoological or botanical park, Roark said, because it's a stipulation in the lease agreement with the state.
"This is all a long way off," Roark said. "We need to come to some reasonable deal with Mr. Dingle and the city so there is a beneficial impact on the citizens. Then we have to deal with the state. This is just one factor."
Dingle added, "It's years away."
Through the proposed settlement, Dingle would be forgiven the loan he defaulted on with the city in exchange for the land. The sticking point between the city and Dingle is the attorney fees.
"Mr. Dingle has asked that we consider some tax liabilities and attorneys' fees, and the numbers we talked about are unacceptable," Roark said. "I haven't seen any hard fast numbers, and until I see those from his CPA, I'm just going to reserve any comments there."
As part of the agreement, Dingle is allowed to keep his own zoo, and allowed to expand and add exhibits as he and the zoo's nonprofit operating board see fit. A new zoo, he said, would only help the city's tourism. And he's more than happy to see another entity such as the city take an interest in building one.
"We don't have the tens of millions of dollars to develop a huge zoo," Dingle said. "The city has the means to do it, we don't. It's in the best interest of the future of the city, and it's best put in their hands."
The city most likely would have private investors pay for the bulk of a zoo, Roark said, and have an outside company handle the zoological activities.
"We're not in the zoo business," he said. "We'll let someone else do that."
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