Neighborhood’s hue and cry directed at pink law office

Motorists waiting at a busy intersection stare at a fluorescent pink building, sometimes becoming so engrossed that the drivers behind them must honk to alert them that the traffic light has changed.

The building's owner describes the radiant color as fuchsia. Its hot pink walls, coupled with its black roof, reflect the corporate colors of a legal team that specializes in reducing traffic penalties, Kirk Helmick said.

Snaring the attention of the 100,000 drivers who pass by on Flamingo Road and Rainbow Boulevard each day is good business, he said. "You can't paint it beige."

Disgruntled neighbors give the hue the less flattering label of Pepto-Bismol -- ironic because of the heartburn they have felt since the former house was transformed in November into something befitting the psychedelic motif of San Francisco's Haight Street.

"This is so tacky, it's outrageous," 24-year resident Dixie Booher said. "We know we're stuck with a business, but we just want the outside changed so it's not so horrible."

The house was converted to a business in 1984 and zoned for office use. It is wedged between a bustling retail strip and a residential area.

Peeved homeowners say they aren't against a business that blends into the neighborhood and supplies enough parking for clientele. But the law office of Ramsey & Associates does neither, said Brenda Turner, arguing that Helmick had turned the house into one big billboard. Such a garish structure will hurt the value of their homes, she said.

She also complained of traffic increasing dramatically on side streets and customers parking bumper-to-bumper in front of homes during certain times of the day.

She and a half-dozen other residents said they'll take their grievances to their town board and to the Clark County Commission, if necessary.

Helmick said he improved the neighborhood by fixing up a building that had sat vacant for a year and was a squalid haven for homeless people.

He will increase his on-site parking to about a dozen spaces simply by painting more lines on the pavement, he said. That should keep clients from parking on the streets.

As for the office's look, Helmick said he understood neighbors' concerns but insisted he was conforming to county codes. "They can't do anything about it," Helmick said. "It's in compliance."

Inside his office, he brandished a copy of the county's design standards for businesses. He pointed to a paragraph stating that colors must be subdued, with no vivid hues.

His fuchsia building is subdued and not vivid, he said, with a serious expression. "It's all interpretation."

Commissioner Susan Brager said her liaison, Mike Shannon, has been working to resolve the dispute. Brager said she'll urge Helmick to tone down the bright pink. "We'd like to see if we can make him a good neighbor," Brager said.

Helmick said he might be willing to soften the pink, as long as he can keep it pink. The corporate colors, he said, deliberately match the colors of traffic citations.

Not everyone objects to the building's color. The pink offers a refreshing break from the bland earth tones so common in Las Vegas, said Kenny DeJesus, who waited outside the office Friday while his father-in-law got a ticket fixed.

In New York, vibrant pastels add flair to buildings, but in this region they are frowned upon, he said. "It's the same brownish-tan color," he said, waving his hand at the houses across the street. "It's ugly."

Chuck Rush, who lives a quarter-mile away, agreed.

"I don't mind the color," Rush said. "I think it kind of spruces up the neighborhood."

But Jack Turner, Brenda's husband, said it would fit better next to Circus Circus on the Strip. "That's where it belongs. Not in a neighborhood."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or (702) 455-4519.