What started as a dispute between the owners of a Las Vegas area golf course and the City Council over the golf course’s proposed development has turned in to a federal lawsuit.
The owners of the now-closed golf course filed suit recently against the Council and two individual members, alleging that their Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process, a right guaranteed under the United States Constitution, have been violated in connection with the Council’s review of their project.
They also are claiming to be victims of religious bias and discrimination, given some allegedly offensive remarks by one of the individual members of the Council named in the action.
Through their company, the owners proposed to build homes and condominiums where the golf course once stood, and they feel that resistance to these plans by the City Council are unlawful and, possibly, motivated by ethnic bias. The member of the Council who allegedly made a statement showing anti-Jewish bias, however, has denied the allegations.
The suit accused the other member of the Council of effectively stacking the deck against the developer’s plans by having city workers mark questionnaires sent to residents as if the residents were opposed to the owner’s project, even though these documents had not been mailed yet.
Although it is generally better for everyone when zoning issues and other matters of real estate law get resolved with the regulatory authorities, this case illustrates that developers who are unhappy with the outcome of their zoning or permit process may have legal options available to them. An experienced real estate attorney in the Las Vegas area can be very helpful in evaluating these options.
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, “Badlands owners take fight with Las Vegas council to federal court,” Jamie Munks, March 27, 2018.