Henderson seeks limit on casinos

With neighborhood hotel-casino proposals sprouting up in Henderson like desert sagebrush, the City Council is poised to pass a law imposing more restrictions on such gaming projects.

The council will consider several proposed amendments to the Henderson city ordinance governing hotel-casinos at its meeting Tuesday night.

The most significant changes would require casino projects to occupy parcels at least 25 acres in size, to include some form of entertainment facility, and to offer recreation facilities such as a tennis court, pool, golf course or gym.

The changes have been proposed in response to several recent gaming projects that simply did not improve the community, said David Wood, a Henderson city councilman.

"We've been dealing with a couple of local casinos that want to open," Wood said. "We didn't feel that that was compatible with where we wanted to go in the city of Henderson."

The Henderson ordinance, which Wood predicts will pass, will strengthen a recent state law prohibiting the construction of casinos that have more than 15 gaming machines unless they also include a 200-room hotel.

"We wanted to make (the law) stronger for Henderson, and we wanted to make sure the projects in Henderson were quality projects," Wood said.

In addition to the parcel size, recreation and entertainment facility requirements, ordinance amendments would require a 30-seat bar, a service bar, a 24-hour restaurant and room service. The city council would no longer be able to waive the minimum 200-room requirement, and could consider factors such as a resort's physical layout and proximity to residential areas when evaluating a proposal.

"Those things are indicators of a quality project that is substantial," Wood said of the proposed requirements. "It's not just something that's trying to capitalize on a casino market. It provides more to the community."

The most radical change appears to be the requirement for a 25-acre parcel.

"There's no way anybody could put 25 contiguous acres together," said Dual Cooper, president of Henderson's Roadhouse Casino. The Roadhouse's owner, Robert McMackin, is proposing a casino, the Sunset Beach Resort, at Sunset and Middlegate Roads.

If the amendments pass, Cooper said, Henderson will be the only city in the state requiring casinos to sit on a 25-acre parcel. A spokeswoman for the City of Las Vegas confirmed that Las Vegas has no minimum parcel size requirement for casinos.

The amendments will not affect projects already approved or under construction, officials said.

But they are already affecting Sunset Beach and another small gaming project, Fonzi's, proposed for Sunset Road across from Sunset Station Casino. McMackin's Sunset Beach was denied by the city Planning Commission because it did not meet several requirements of the proposed new ordinance.

"They're changing the rules on us at the last moment," Cooper said.

And Galleria Associates, developers of Fonzi's, has changed its plans apparently in response to an amendment that proposes exempting casinos in master planned communities from the other proposed restrictions.

Galleria Associates applied June 30 to give the Fonzi's site a master planned community designation, one day before the July 1 deadline on which the proposed amendment calls for the master planned community exemption to end.

Galleria Associates officials did not return calls for comment. According to the Fonzi's application, the master plan overlay "will provide for future intensification of the property and ensure guidelines for its evolution as a quality establishment."

Wood explained that master planned communities already include many of the same amenities the proposed ordinance changes would require. The new ordinance is intended to apply primarily to stand-alone casinos, he said.

Other projects under construction or that meet all of the proposed amendment criteria will clearly not be affected. These include:

-- Santa Fe Valley, a 290-room casino at Sunset and Marks that would include an ice rink. Santa Fe Valley has received all approvals and construction crews last week began preparing its site for construction.

-- PT's Mining Co. Hotel, a 200-room casino on Boulder Highway at Palo Verde Drive. PT's has received all necessary approvals.

-- American Nevada Corp.'s plans for a 600-room hotel-casino at Lake Mead Drive and Green Valley Parkway. It's part of a master planned community. American Nevada is controlled by the Greenspun family, owner of the Las Vegas Sun.

-- Gold Rush Boulder, a casino project with no attached hotel, at Boulder Highway and Magic Way. Gold Rush Boulder is under construction.

-- The site at Stephanie Street and Lake Mead Drive once planned for the South Pacific hotel-casino. This site, which is for sale, is part of a master planned community.

The ordinance could affect the following proposals:

-- Gaim-Ko Inc.'s plan for a 200-room hotel-casino at Boulder Highway and Racetrack Road. Killed by city council in April, an amended Gaim-Ko proposal would likely have to meet the new restrictions.

-- A proposed stand-alone addition to Sunset Station. Proposed for Stephanie Street at Warm Springs Road, the Sunset addition was killed by the Planning Commission in April. Any revised proposal would likely have to abide by the new restrictions.

-- Lucky Stars, a casino long proposed at Eastern Avenue and Lake Mead Drive. Lucky Stars' site meets zoning and comprehensive plan requirements, but other approvals are still needed. Specifics on the project were not available.

-- Margaritaville, a casino proposed at Boulder Highway and Magic Way. Zoning and comprehensive plan changes were approved in 1997, but other approvals are still needed. Project specifics weren't available.

The proposed ordinance amendments were heralded by at least one community activist who has fought against Henderson neighborhood casinos.

"I'll go for that," said Edwin Thomas, a Henderson resident who led a successful campaign against a casino project proposed by Gaim-Ko Inc. for Boulder Highway north of Racetrack Road.

Henderson has enough casinos already, Thomas said.

"I don't think more casinos would bring any significant amount of dollars into the Henderson community," Thomas said.

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