Las Vegas City Council may change restriction rule for downtown nightclubs

Nightclubs on Las Vegas Boulevard might seem natural, but they do not populate one downtown stretch. That could soon change.

Next month the Las Vegas City Council will vote on a measure to eliminate the rule that nightclubs must be at least 500 feet from single-family homes on Las Vegas Boulevard between Charleston Boulevard and Fremont Street.

If the council approves the change at its Feb. 1 meeting, a nightclub could be built an alleyway’s distance from a building Terry Murphy owns on South Sixth Street, she said.

That section of the boulevard is home to wedding chapels, the Historic Fifth Street School and the federal courthouse. Its northern boundary is the end of the Fremont Street Experience.

That stretch of the boulevard falls partially within a civic and business district, designated in the downtown master plan approved last year by the City Council.

“Why would you want to liven up a business and civic district?” Murphy said. “They want their peace and quiet.”

Murphy thinks the city should notify nearby property owners about the proposal to eliminate the distance requirement.

She’s also concerned that having a nightclub nearby would mean her liability insurance would increase and that she would need to hire security and someone to clean the property.

Councilman Bob Coffin said the roughly mile-long stretch of the boulevard has been “stagnant” for entertainment and removing the restriction would “add some spirit to that stretch of road.”

If the council approves the enabling ordinance next week, the City Council would need to approve special-use permits for specific projects in order for them to move forward, Coffin said.

If approved, no distance requirement would exist for properties a quarter-acre or larger and with a building of at least 5,000 square feet. There are high-rise apartment and condo buildings in the vicinity, but not many single-family homes, Coffin said.

“Maybe nightclubs are appropriate in that business and civic district and maybe they’re not,” Councilman Stavros Anthony said at the committee meeting, but added that the change should be included in an ongoing process to update city code.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.