Blaze followed long paper trail over safety issues

This morning's fire at the former Sierra Nevada Arms publicly assisted apartment complex was exactly what the Las Vegas City Council was trying to avoid when it voted to demolish the buildings at last Monday's council meeting.

The buildings, located south of Lake Mead Boulevard near Holly Avenue and Simmons Street, have been an eyesore to nearby residents and a headache to city officials for months. This week the city started demolition proceedings on the buildings for code violations, declaring the structures a public nuisance and safety hazard.

This declaration was a victory for the neighborhood and the council that's been years in the making.

In 1996, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sold part of the property the former complex sat on to a nonprofit developer, Shepherd Hills, for $1. The company promised to build low-income housing on the lots after demolishing the decrepit buildings with $448,000 from HUD.

Southwest Colored Rock was hired by Shepherd Hills to demolish the structures. But rather than wreck the buildings, Southwest arranged a salvage agreement and sold the buildings to local developer Mike Kinzler.

Shepherd Hills, through its HUD allotment, paid Southwest $150,000, according to Southwest owner Gerald Ford. Ford said Shepherd Hills still owes him money for the work he's done.

According to HUD records, the department paid $264,000 to Shepherd Hills for asbestos abatement on some of the structures. Elliot Eisner, an attorney for Shepherd Hills, said that the money was first given to a general contractor that then hired Southwest Color Rock.

"But those payments were done ... not in protest, but we had some questions," Pat Goray, director of operations at the HUD San Francisco office, said.

Since those questions were never answered, Goray said, HUD hasn't paid any more of the allotted funds. Officials from Shepherd Hills could not be reached for comment.

Kinzler, the owner of the buildings, was attempting to move them to other lots in the Las Vegas Valley. He said he was going to rehabilitate them and rent them out. Kinzler could not be reached for comment.

City, county and state officials contended that the buildings couldn't be moved because Kinzler didn't procure the necessary permits for moving them. When permits were obtained, deadlines passed without action.

"He'd say he needed one more week, or one more month," said Leni Skaar, a Las Vegas Planning Commissioner who represents the area. "But then nothing would happen."

A few months ago, four of the 50 structures were moved -- across the street to an empty lot in the city of North Las Vegas. Once there, a North Las Vegas building inspector red-tagged them and the four buildings were eventually moved away.

The Las Vegas City Council decided to demolish the remaining 46 buildings last week, insisting that the buildings needed to be wrecked.

"They are a public nuisance and a danger," said City Councilman Gary Reese who represents the area. "They need to go."

The city started demolition earlier this week with asbestos abatement. It was estimated that it would cost about $250,000 in taxpayer dollars to have them wrecked -- even after the federal government had spent more than $250,000 to have the buildings removed.

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