Henderson
Leaning Toward Strip Resorts
Six decades after the first
casinos were built on what would become the
Las Vegas Strip, Henderson is ready to pronounce
that gambling is appropriate on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Henderson
planners had said the opposite just last month
in a proposal that would have severely limited
the number of casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard
South near the southern end of the Las Vegas
Valley. But the City Council did not agree.
"We
were always going to allow it," Henderson
Councilman Steven Kirk said. "Why on earth
would we have someone with a Las Vegas Boulevard
address and not have gaming? We just weren't
going to allow someone to buy 5 acres and build
a slot joint."
Under
a revised ordinance, casinos would be allowed
in a gaming district that extends 1,500 feet
from the centerline of Las Vegas Boulevard South.
Resorts must consist of at least 25 acres and
500 rooms. Kirk said he expects the final version
will increase the requirement to 1,000 hotel
rooms.
"I
don't want to tie the hands of future councils
on that corridor," Councilwoman Amanda
Cyphers said. "None of us know what the
town is going to look like in 50 years."
The
earlier language required casinos along the
corridor to be 5 miles from each other unless
they were part of a master-planned development
of 1,000 acres or more. That proposal would
have benefited the planned $1.8 billion M Resort
in Henderson, at the southeast corner of St.
Rose Parkway and Las Vegas Boulevard South.
Henderson's
ordinance remains speculative, however, because
it controls only a short stretch of Las Vegas
Boulevard South. The city is trying to annex
3,600 acres of Bureau of Land Management land
south of St. Rose Parkway, which includes southern
portions of the boulevard, but Clark County
commissioners have voiced opposition. Without
the county's endorsement, the BLM has not supported
the annexation.
County
Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald said Henderson's
original proposal to curtail gaming along Las
Vegas Boulevard shows it's not the best steward
for the corridor.
"That
reaffirms my thoughts on the importance from
an economic development standpoint of wanting
to maintain control and continuation of the
Las Vegas Strip," Boggs McDonald said.
Henderson
planners had written the original language so
that the ordinance would be consistent with
a proposed 5-mile-radius restriction on casinos
throughout the city. That limitation, if approved,
would effectively guarantee that existing Henderson
casinos enjoyed monopoly status in their zones.
Henderson
resident Jennie Orme, who asked officials to
impose restrictions on casinos elsewhere in
the city, said she had no problem allowing future
casinos to be built along what many are referring
to as the South Strip.
"You
expect gaming to be there," Orme said.
"As long as they are away from neighborhoods,
that was our concern from the beginning."
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