Some prominent Las Vegans are drawing a line in the sand trap in their effort to keep the owner of Badlands Golf Club from turning it into a residential development.
The course near Alta Drive and Rampart Boulevard neighbors the upscale Queensridge community, home to gaming executive Jack Binion, tennis greats Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, and attorney Frank Schreck.
Schreck is part of a group of Queensridge residents that sued last year to prevent the owner of the golf course from developing a mix of high-end estate homes and high-density, multi family-housing.
Developer Yohan Lowie purchased the course last year and contends he has zoning rights to build nearly 3,000 residential units. City of Las Vegas planning staff endorsed his proposal, which is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Commission in October.
Earlier this week, Las Vegas Councilman Bob Beers, whose Ward 2 includes Badlands, said a Queensridge resident told him he was prepared to fund a candidate against him in next year’s municipal election for failing to oppose the project.
Schreck said there is a simple reason why residents are unhappy with Beers.
"Because the councilman has not listened to anything the residents have had to say," he said, "From the beginning of the developers proposal, the councilman has not only just supported it; he's advocated it. He's provided legal opinions and he's an accountant."
He also said the councilman hasn't challenged any of the changes the developer has made to the original plans.
Beers told KNPR's State of Nevada that the golf course land was zoned for residential development, which is something Schreck disputes.
"Like many things Councilman Beers has said, he is incorrect," Schreck said, "The claims to entitlements that Councilman Beers and the developer states is based upon a letter that the developer received in December 2014 signed by a low-level staff member in the planning department of the city of Las Vegas."
Schreck said the letter doesn't create any entitlements. He said it simple states how many homes are allowed on an acre of land in the Queensridge community.
Queensridge owners say the proposed development runs counter to the master plan that attracted them to the posh residential community. Schreck also said the planned development is already hurting home values.
"Right now, the property values, according to our appraisers, have gone down about 20 percent," he said.
Schreck and other homeowners have filed a lawsuit to try to stop the development. The lawsuit alleges that development efforts “interfere with the legal rights of the homeowners — adjoining property owners in the master-planned development commonly known as Queensridge."
"Do we believe that we may get a fair shake in the city council? I don't know. We're very skeptical about that, but we will get a fair shake in court," he said.
Schreck said homeowners have tried to talk to the developer through a series of public meetings, but he believes none of those meetings included real dialogue. Instead, he feels the developer has been telling them it is "a done deal."
Frank Schreck, attorney and Queensridge resident