Veteran land-use lawyer defends role in proposed Henderson sports complex

The veteran lawyer cares too much about Henderson to ever do anything that would harm the city, said lawyer Jacob Hafter, who is representing Marchiano in a lawsuit brought by the city of Henderson against Marchiano and four other defendants.

The city’s lawsuit alleges controversial Texas developer Chris Milam, Marchiano and three others conspired to create a ruse that involved proposing a professional sports complex on 480 acres of Bureau of Land Management land while scheming to flip the land for residential and commercial development.

The lawsuit alleges Marchiano “has significant financial interests in the Project and purchase of the Land from the BLM … separate and apart from his ordinary fees for representing Milam …”

Hafter said Marchiano did not know anything about residential and commercial plans while Milam was hyping a proposal to Henderson officials last year to build a soccer stadium, baseball park and arena at a site controlled by the BLM. Milam paid the BLM $10.5 million for the land, but the agency has delayed the closing until Feb. 6.

“Mr. Marchiano has a long and credible history of working for and with the city. … Mr. Marchiano has way too much respect for the city of Henderson to harm the city in this type of a deal,” Hafter said Tuesday. “He’s not going to risk his reputation and ability to work with the city over this deal.”

The lawsuit, filed Monday in District Court, also lists as defendants Christopher Stephens, a lawyer with the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schrek; land consultant Michael Ford, a former 25-year Bureau of Land Management veteran who was hired by Milam for the deal in Henderson while also doing consulting work for the city on the same project; and Lee Haney, who handled public relations for Milam.

The lawsuit portrays Milam as the ringleader of a team of two lawyers, a land management consultant and a public relations specialist working together to mislead the city of Henderson so that Milam could get a sweetheart land deal from the BLM and then sell pieces of the acres to residential and commercial developers.

The lawsuit alleges Milam told the city he was planning a pro sports complex when, in fact, he was working with Marchiano, Stephens, Ford and Haney to use the land for residential purposes.

Hafter said his client was unaware of any alleged bait-and-switch scheme to market the land for residential use.

Hafter argued against the city’s request for real and punitive damages as well as legal costs, saying that if the federal land was bought by Milam and placed on tax rolls, it would help the city by generating tax revenue.

The city of Henderson “created a lot of hype and rhetoric to try and build a facade of fraud and deceit,” Hafter said. “This is a shame that the city will be spending a substantial amount of taxpayer dollars on a (legal) case that is questionable, if not frivolous.”

Milam could not be reached for comment. Before approaching Henderson, Milam also proposed an arena/sports complex near Mandalay Bay .

Ford said the allegations against him are untrue and he looks forward to “a robust discussion” to defend himself vigorously.

Stephens did not return calls for comment. The lawsuit alleges Stephens is a California-licensed attorney who is not admitted to practice law in Nevada.

Haney responded by email Monday night, saying even though she didn’t have a chance to review the lawsuit she never “made any knowing misrepresentations … and I was always told that Mr. Milam intended to develop an arena/sports complex on the property. …”

The Las Vegas-based law firm representing the city of Henderson, Bailey Kennedy, is seeking a restraining order or injunction to block Milam and his associates from selling the land or using it for any purpose not covered by the project’s land agreement, which was adopted by city officials to accommodate an arena/sports complex project.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273.