Appeal filed in Sparks casino case

CARSON CITY -- Opponents of a Sparks neighborhood casino backed by developer Harvey Whittemore are taking their fight to the Nevada Supreme Court.

The Sparks Nugget hotel-casino and a group of residents filed an appeal Friday over a district judge's dismissal of their lawsuit seeking to block a controversial settlement that allowed the Lazy 8 to move forward.

"This appeal is really about having the case heard on the merits and not being set aside on technicalities manufactured by the opposition," Nugget spokeswoman Beth Cooney told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Lazy 8 spokesman Carlos Vasquez said he had not seen the appeal but remained confident that developers would prevail.

"We think we've done the right thing all along," he said. "If it ends up at the U.S. Supreme Court, we'll end up with the same outcome."

Last month, Washoe County District Judge Jerome Polaha ruled in favor of Peppermill Casinos and Whittemore's Red Hawk Land Co., which plan to build the resort along the Pyramid Highway in Spanish Springs Valley.

The Sparks City Council voted against the Lazy 8 in August, and developers then sued the city for $100 million.

The city settled the lawsuit a week later by allowing Whittemore and the Peppermill to continue with the project.

The settlement, first approved in a secret meeting and later during a public vote, reversed the council vote.

A subsequent lawsuit by the Nugget and citizens claimed the developers' suit was "trumped up," and the agreement circumvented a required master plan amendment.

Citizens living near the project site fear increased traffic and a drag on home values.