Thursday, July 21, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Bill would let Speedway buy 115 BLM acres

Land would increase parking, chances for second NASCAR event

WASHINGTON -- The Las Vegas Motor Speedway could expand by 115 acres under legislation explored Wednesday by a U.S. Senate subcommittee.

The land would provide additional parking for spectators at the 1,200-acre racetrack, according to a bill introduced in April by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

The land, now controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, would be sold directly to the speedway after an appraisal by a BLM-approved examiner, according to the bill.

BLM and congressional officials said they had no estimate of the property's value. Speedway officials approached Ensign for the land, which is a sand and gravel pit next to the venue.

Though not yet under strain, the speedway could use more parking to accommodate expansion, General Manager Chris Powell said.

A 17,000-seat grandstand is slated to open in 2006, he said. The speedway also hopes to host a second NASCAR event each year in addition to the NASCAR Nextel Cup, which drew 156,000 people March 13.

Though the speedway can handle 25,000 cars, Powell said, 115 additional acres would translate into roughly 33 percent more parking.

"It's very important to us getting this parking, in an effort to get that second NASCAR event."

Although the Bureau of Land Management does not oppose handing over the land, it is concerned with some logistics of the sale, Larry Benna, BLM deputy director of operations, told the Senate public lands and forests subcommittee.

In hopes of raising as much money as possible, Benna said, the BLM wants to auction the land instead of selling it directly to the speedway.

"If you look at the lands we've sold previously in the Las Vegas Valley, a significant number, if not all of them, have sold for more than the appraised value," Benna said.

Ensign warned lawmakers that auctioning off the land would be a mistake.

"Somebody out there could basically outbid the people at the speedway and then hold them hostage for this piece of property," he said.

The BLM also said profits from the sale should be deposited into the Treasury instead of being distributed according to the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, which requires the funds to be spent in Nevada.

Proposals to change the Southern Nevada land disposal formula have been strongly opposed by Nevada lawmakers and Clark County officials.

The BLM's proposed profit formula "should scare every Western senator, because no other Western state is treated that way," Ensign said.

Powell said the speedway attracts visitors from all 50 states, as well as 30 countries. Citing numbers compiled by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, he said the March event funneled $167 million into the community.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., co-sponsored the bill. All three Nevada lawmakers in the U.S. House are sponsoring a similar measure.

Ensign tried to attach the speedway bill to an Interior Department spending bill last month, but withdrew it after Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., wanted to examine it further.