LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As the battle over the 250-acre defunct Badlands Golf Course continues, the Nevada Supreme Court is handing down another ruling against the City of Las Vegas.
On Thursday, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a District Court ruling that the city did take developer Yohan Lowie's private property for public use. That leaves taxpayers footing a nearly $60 million bill in a fight many said the city should have given up years ago.
In the latest court ruling, it states in part that "regulatory agency decisions that deprive a landowner of all economically beneficial use of their property - a per se regulatory taking - require just compensation to the landowner under both the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, 8(3) of the Nevada Constitution."
The Nevada Supreme Court also noted several inconsistencies.
"Although the City rejected 180 Land's development proposals, its representatives had previously recognized the site's ability to be developed residentially," the ruling reads in part.
The city keeps throwing good money after bad. Despite having a staff of 14 city attorneys, the council has, for years, paid private lawyers millions of tax dollars to fight what multiple courts have found to be a losing battle. Current and former elected officials say their colleagues playing politics amounts to all of them playing fast and loose with taxpayers' money.
Dirty dealings have defined the Badlands battle from the start.
"Politics can be driven by money, and in this case it very much was," former councilman Bob Beers told 13 Investigates in Sept. 2019.
WATCH: 13 Investigates looks into the Battle Over Badlands in 2019
Beers is a former Ward 2 Councilman. In 2019, he told 13 Investigates how he was ready to wave the white flag years before. Now, the city has no choice after losing its appeal in the first Badlands case to land before the Nevada Supreme Court. In this case, the city's appeal involves a 35-acre parcel, which a lower court judge ruled the city illegally took from Lowie by repeatedly denying his permits to develop homes on the defunct golf course he owns.
Badlands is in current Las Vegas city councilwoman Victoria Seaman's ward, since she was elected in 2019.
"I hate to say I told you so," Seaman said to Chief Investigator Darcy Spears on Friday, recalling her ongoing battle to get fellow councilmembers to settle the Badlands cases or risk saddling taxpayers with an unthinkable tab.
"You made it a campaign promise that you were going to resolve this. Why didn't you get it done?" Spears asked.
"I made a campaign promise that I was going to try and resolve this, but it takes four votes, and when you get onto a council that got us into this mess and you're trying to get them to say they were wrong... it was utterly impossible," Seaman said.
In Thursday's ruling, the Nevada Supreme Court said the city's decision to fight the residential zoning of Badlands was a bad one with no basis in law. As 13 Investigates first reported, it was a battle backed by a handful of wealthy Queensridge homeowners who didn't want development on the shuttered golf course behind their homes.
Former Ward 2 Councilman Steve Seroka tried to appease those homeowners by falsely telling them Badlands was open recreational space. However, it's not a city park. It's private property, and it always has been.
"We've litigated this issue for approximately six years against the city of Las Vegas. There have been four Nevada District Court judges who've ruled in favor of the landowner at every stage of the litigation," said Jim Leavitt, an attorney for Lowie. "The city was going to stop development on this property by any means necessary."
"Why," Spears asked.
"That's the proverbial question. I wish we knew," Leavitt said.
WATCH: Badlands becoming wasteland, have for crime
The Supreme Court opinion notes former Councilman Bob Coffin's statements, which 13 Investigates first exposed in 2018. In a group text, then-Councilman Coffin wrote that he was looking for 'intel on the scum behind the [golf course] takeover. Dirt will be handy if I need to get rough.'
Coffin also directed others to use personal emails to discuss Badlands to keep communications hidden from public view and from a previously issued subpoena.
We questioned Coffin about that in our original report.
"On an email or a text message to someone -- particularly someone who needs to hear that someone feels the same way they do -- then I think that it's ... really, I don't care what I say," Coffin told 13 Investigates in 2018.
The Supreme Court cared, and they cited Coffin's inflammatory language as just some of the evidence where the city "showed a general hostility to allowing any development on the site."
"It was not only political, it was downright embarrassing for our city," Seaman said.
The high court's ruling seems to underscore that, pointing out how the city's attorneys have contradicted themselves in court briefings and provided no evidence that purported public opposition was a valid basis to deny Lowie's development applications.
"What is next here? Just more court and a never-ending bleeding of tax dollars in this case?" Spears asked.
"I still have hope that maybe the developer will come to the city and we can actually settle this. I have hope but I'm not sure that's going to happen," Seaman replied.
That did happen once before, a few years ago, when the case was almost settled for $64 million, which in the grand scheme of things would've been pennies on the dollar. The agreement fell apart at the eleventh hour when Lowie's legal team said the city made unapproved changes that defied the spirit of the settlement.
WATCH: Possible settlement in Badlands case falls apart
City attorneys have said in court that this first decision by the Nevada Supreme Court would resolve all issues in all of the cases. We'll be keeping tabs to see if the City keeps its word. The three remaining cases involve the rest of the Badlands parcels. If the City keeps fighting, the final tab for taxpayers could be well over half a billion dollars.
Channel 13 received the following statement from Lowie's company, EHB Companies, following the ruling.
"EHB is indeed pleased to have prevailed in the first of four pending lawsuits against the City of Las Vegas. The ruling in our favor by 3 District Court judges and now the 7-0 decision of the Supreme Court is a significant affirmation of the importance of property rights for every land and homeowner in the state of Nevada.
It is crucial to clarify that the court's decision was not solely in our favor, but rather in the favor of upholding property rights for all individuals. The potential consequences of a ruling against us would have had far-reaching implications, as it could have eroded property rights and granted the government the authority to take land from owners at any time.
The ruling by the court was a validation of the fundamental principles that protect property owners' rights and ensure stability and security in our legal system. It is a victory not just for EHB, but for every land and homeowner in Nevada, as it upholds their rights to their property and prevents potential abuses of power. It underscores the importance of responsible governance and adherence to the law to protect the rights and interests of individuals.
Moving forward, we remain committed to working within the legal framework and engaging in constructive dialogue with the City to bring finality to all outstanding matters."
Channel 13 also reached out to the City of Las Vegas who sent us the following statement.
"The city is aware of today's Nevada Supreme Court decision regarding the Badlands golf course.
The City Attorney and City Manager will brief the City Council on the Court's holding, but no additional comment will be made as there are additional cases pending involving the Badlands golf course."
