Monorail opposed by homeowners

The Clark County Planning Commission early today approved a use permit for a privately operated monorail planned for a 4-mile corridor between the Bally's and Sahara hotel-casinos.

The proposal next goes to the County Commission, which will hear opposition to the project from an exclusive neighborhood along the monorail's proposed route.

If approved by commissioners next month, construction could begin next April with completion three years later.

Commissioners approved the use permit without endorsing the project after a motion to delay action failed. Two commissioners wanted additional information before approving the permit.

The monorail is an extension of the free elevated system operated between the MGM Grand and Bally's. If approved, the extension would add six new stations between the MGM Grand and the Sahara. Stations would be built at the New Aladdin at Harmon Avenue, the Flamingo Hilton, a joint stop for the Imperial Palace and Harrah's, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Sahara.

In addition, the Bally's stop would be revamped to serve both Bally's and the new Paris hotel-casino.

Robert Broadbent, who is coordinating the project, said the $300 million monorail would be financed by the properties building stops and $63 million in debt. The annual operating costs of $8.5 million to $9 million a year would be paid for users of the system, who would be charged fares ranging from $2 to $3.

Broadbent said about 5 million people a year use the MGM Grand-Bally's monorail, which takes riders less than 1 mile and isn't widely promoted.

The monorail proposal is not without some major engineering challenges. Between the Bally's-Paris station and the Flamingo Hilton stop, the monorail track would pass through the Bally's hotel structure about 45 feet above the ground. At the Las Vegas Convention Center, the track would climb 75 feet above the ground to pass over a new pedestrian bridge over Paradise Road.

Planners also are trying to determine the monorail's potential impact on buildings still on the drawing board. On the north end of the route, the Sahara station would be built adjacent to an existing pedestrian overpass at Paradise Road at the Sahara hotel-casino. The monorail would be adjacent to a proposed convention center at the Sahara that has been put on hold until the monorail alignment is set.

Other proposed projects along the route: a 39-story, 2,500-room hotel-casino at Sands Avenue and Koval Lane called the Olympic Sunrise hotel-casino; three 38-story towers for a condominium project at Paradise and Riviera Boulevard, west of the Las Vegas Hilton; another condominium project at the northeast corner of Paradise and Karen Avenue; and the Marriott Marquee, an upscale hotel being built at the MGM Grand. The Sahara also plans a 46-story tower on its property near the monorail corridor.

But possibly the most controversial part of the route is adjacent to Desert Inn Estates, a residential neighborhood around the Desert Inn golf course. To the north and west of the proposed monorail alignment are 55 homes, some screened by a 6-foot block wall and mature trees.

Eight neighbors led by former Nevada Sen. Chic Hecht attended the marathon Planning Commission meeting, at which the monorail issue was heard at 2 a.m. today. They told commissioners the monorail route is not compatible with their luxury homes, which skirt the Desert Inn Country Club golf course.

The homeowners said the monorail would devalue their homes by $300,000 to $400,000 and would ruin their privacy. One homeowner said the proposed route passes within 50 feet of his front door.

The proposed guideway around the neighborhood would be about 33 feet above the ground along Sands Avenue and Paradise Road, giving monorail riders unobstructed views of the exclusive residential properties.

A planning staff report suggests proposing an alternative route away from the residences, limiting the hours of operation or limiting the number of trips during specific hours. Monorail operators say they want to run the train between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m.

Attorney Lance Earl, who represented The Venetian hotel-casino at the meeting, said monorail developers need to provide more information about the plan. The Venetian is evaluating the impact the monorail would have on its holdings, including the Sands Expo Center, which would be skirted to the south by the monorail.

Earl said Broadbent should provide information on parking lots for riders, emergency access plans in the event of a power failure, transformer and maintenance yard locations and the project's compatibility with a proposed public system under study that would run from Cashman Center to the Strip. He also said developers should study the effect on traffic and on the Citizens Area Transit bus system.

Broadbent responded that his group has a compatibility agreement with the Regional Transportation Commission for its proposed transit system to Cashman Center and that emergency access plans already are in effect for the existing monorail system. The location of facilities would be dependent upon acceptance of the route, which was accomplished by approval of the use permit.

Broadbent said while the guideways to be built would be similar to the tracks in place between Bally's and the MGM Grand, the trains would sport new technology and would be an upgrade from existing equipment. The new trains would operate as an automated system with a control center and not with engineers aboard the train.

The approximately $9 million in annual operations costs would include maintenance personnel, security and safety officers and general and liability insurance.

The properties pitching in on the construction costs would get monorail stations about 240 feet long, about 60 to 80 feet wide and about 40 to 60 feet above the ground. Planners say they want sites that can be extended to 300 feet long to accommodate longer trains in the future.

The system, to be manufactured by Bombardier, a Canadian company that built the original Disneyland monorail, would include six trains with four to six cars sitting about 10 feet above the track.

Broadbent would not speculate about the possibility of extending the proposal south to McCarran International Airport, an idea that has been suggested by transportation planners.

"We want to just get this section of the thing built first," Broadbent said. "We're not worried about expanding it at this point."

But a factor the company has been asked to consider is compatibility with the RTC system.

Broadbent also said no plans have been made in conjunction with a proposal made earlier this month by Transco, a Hawaii-based monorail systems designer that has been contracted to build systems in China.

Ron Watson, chief executive officer of Transco, said his company would be willing to build and operate a monorail and that he would like to make it compatible with Broadbent's system.

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