Dotty’s sues county, says ordinance violates its rights

The owner of the Dotty’s chain of slot parlors in the Las Vegas area sued Clark County and the County Commission on Tuesday over county efforts to reign in its operations, saying its due process rights have been violated.

Nevada Restaurant Services Inc. charged in the suit that based on complaints by Station Casinos Inc. and Boyd Gaming Corp., owners of locals casinos, the county passed an ordinance that became effective April 19 and harms Dotty’s.

The suit alleges the ordinance requires Dotty’s to build bars with bar-top gaming in violation of Dotty’s “reasonable expectation of entitlement to continue to operate the (21 Dotty’s) approved taverns (in Clark County) as approved by the county and without the costly retrofitting obligations that the ordinance imposes.”

The suit notes Dotty’s employs more than 500 people and uses more than 1,200 slot machines statewide, generating “significant” taxes and fees for the state and local governments and operating in often financially-devastated neighborhood strip malls.

Unlike taverns with bartop gaming, Dotty’s has slot areas that are freestanding and grouped.

Its locations primarily appeal to females “who like the safety and convenience that these smaller strip mall locations provide,” the suit says.

“Dotty’s offers a clean, bright, homey lounge environment with a generous customer-appreciation program,” says the suit, filed in federal court by attorneys with the Las Vegas law firm Kemp, Jones & Coulthard LLP.

Critics, however, say the Dotty’s business model has skirted regulations aimed at making gaming incidental to the main business of taverns.

County attorneys have not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.