By BEX Staff for AZBEX
Growing frustrated with a property ownership dispute that is holding up progress on the planned Interstate 40 Rancho Santa Fe Traffic Interchange development, the Kingman City Council has invited the parties in the disagreement to a special meeting March 11.
Local news sources report the agenda has not been finalized, so it is not yet known if the meeting will be open to the public or held in executive session. The Council has spent time in multiple executive sessions over the last six months talking about the development agreement it has with KDP Manager and the dispute between Las Vegas businessmen Bill Lenhard and Bill Plise over the entity and the property it controls, which is essential for the interchange project.
According to news reports from October, Lenhard and Plise have filed parallel litigation in Mohave County Superior Court and Clark County (Nevada) Superior Court. At least one arbitration session has taken place in Las Vegas.
Both men were managers of KDP Manager. Lenhart is also manager of SDVIP VB LLC. Plise’s attorney said in the complaint there was an operational dispute between the two that resulted in a December 2022 purchase agreement where Plise and KDP bought 650 acres from SDVIP VB LLC.
The complaint claims a breach of contract and that Lenhart has obstructed the agreement to sell to KDP Manager. There are also allegations of conflict of interest since Lenhart was a manager of both companies.
Lenhart alleges Plise is trying to force him out of the opportunity and take over the project for his own benefit.
Lenhart’s attorney said Lenhart bought 1,025 acres for the project on his own and worked personally over time to advance it. He reportedly agreed to partner with Plise as KDP Manager because Plise had more development and finance expertise.
Plise wants the court(s) to compel Lenhart to comply with the purchase agreement and alleges the development could be put at risk, otherwise.
According to the October article, a trial setting conference had been set in Kingman for July 11. As of press time, the status of the cases and whether there have been updates to the schedule are unknown.
In the current article, Kingman Mayor Ken Watkins said the dispute is slowing progress on the project. He also said City Attorney Carl Cooper has been looking into whether the disagreement between Lenhard and Plise could constitute a breach of the development agreement.
