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

Ruling delayed again on proposal from Walters

For the second time, the Las Vegas City Council has postponed deciding whether developer Bill Walters can convert a golf club into a residential neighborhood.

Mayor Oscar Goodman on Wednesday asked council members to put off the item until Aug. 3. Walters is seeking permission to turn the Royal Links Golf Club into a housing area in exchange for $7 million.

The county assessor estimates that the market value is about $64 million, or nine times the amount the city would receive under the deal.

Two issues led Goodman to ask for the delay: an engineering report submitted for the project was not complete, and the investigation into whether a city staffer misled one or more council members about the proposal is still ongoing.

"One issue is folding into the other," Goodman said.

After the first postponement on July 6, Goodman said remarks about the Walters project made by a city staffer were "highly prejudicial." He declined to identify the staff member, who was involved in briefing one or more council members.

Walters is asking the city to lift a deed restriction on 160 acres at Sloan Lane and Vegas Valley Drive in the east valley. He leased the land from the city in 1997. Then, in 1999, Walters purchased the property for $5,600 an acre.

The deed restriction that prohibits homes being built on that land originally was made because of the stench from a nearby wastewater treatment facility. Plant improvements have reduced the odors, and with that no longer a problem, Walters announced in June that he wanted to build homes.