EDITORIAL: Time for city to end the Badlands debacle

Brochures for the Problem Gamblers Helpline — slogan: When the fun stops — are available at many Las Vegas gaming establishments. Perhaps a few pamphlets should also be distributed to City Council members, who seem intent on going all in with a losing hand in their reckless showdown with a local developer.

Last week, a Clark County judge ordered the city to pay $34.1 million to EHB Cos., which for six years has been trying to develop the abandoned Badlands golf course on the west side. Residents of the surrounding upscale Queensridge community opposed the plan and convinced a majority of the City Council to block the proposal even though the land was zoned for residential development.

That led to numerous lawsuits.

In September, District Judge Timothy Williams determined that the city had indeed committed a taking under the Fifth Amendment by refusing to let the developer make use of 35 acres on the now dilapidated golf course. Last week’s $34 million award was determined to be “just compensation.” Three other related legal filings — each dealing separately with parcels of 133, 65 and 17 acres — remain unresolved.

Do the math. If the remaining 215 acres are valued similarly, the city — read: local taxpayers — could be on the hook for another $209 million, making the total payout $243 million, not including the legal fees the city has expended to fight this futile battle.

This dispute should have been resolved long ago. The city had little legal basis to abuse its regulatory authority to deny the Badlands makeover. Yet the council last month voted to appeal Judge Williams’ ruling. Apparently, those 10-spot keno wagers don’t seem like such a reach when you’re playing with other people’s money.

But the Williams ruling, along with the seven-figure judgment, should bring council members to their senses. Stop gambling with money collected from city taxpayers and cut a deal with EHB Cos. “We are wasting taxpayer money,” said Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, who represents the district that includes Badlands, “and it is time to come to the table, no matter what happened in the past, and make it right.”

She’s correct. Yes, the makeup of the council has changed somewhat from when the dispute began. But it’s well past time that this council took seriously the potential taxpayer liability here and moved to minimize the damage. The alternative is to roll the dice with their political futures.