The battle over the Badlands golf course is causing bad blood on the Las Vegas City Council.

Stinging from a litigation by developer Yohan Lowie, first-year Councilman Steve Seroka decided to speak out this past week about the controversial issue that propelled him into office in an upset last year over incumbent Bob Beers. Lowie, the founder and CEO of EHB Cos., in 2015 purchased the private 250-acre golf course with plans to convert it into a condominium development that would run through much of the upscale Queensridge gated community.

That didn’t sit well with the area’s residents, and the first shots in the legal battle were fired. Someone may need to print a game program to keep track of all the lawsuits now on file.

One came from lawyers for casino man and Queensridge resident Jack Binion and other homeowners against the city after the council’s February 2017 vote to approve a project that was out of step with the area’s master plan, which was last modified in 1990.

Residents appeared to win a victory in January when District Judge Jim Crockett ruled the council had abused its discretion and had declined to follow staff recommendations. The judge said in part, “The city is not permitted to change the rules and follow something other than what was already in place.” He added that residents bought their homes “in reliance on what the master plan was. They bought their homes, some of them made a very substantial investment, but no one making an insubstantial investment, and they moved into the neighborhood.”

Following Crockett’s decision, the council voted 5-2 to follow his ruling and shelve the plan. Attorneys for Lowie, led by Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison, are appealing Crockett’s decision to the Nevada Supreme Court and have filed a flurry of other lawsuits in the case.

Lowie’s litigation team also sued Seroka and veteran Councilman Bob Coffin in federal court accusing them of bias and worse. The lawyers are seeking to force the recusal of the council members, which would certainly improve the project’s odds of approval when it eventually returns to City Hall.

With lawyers now calling for the production of voluminous communications and records from the city that might help their bias claim, Seroka is now wondering aloud why Councilwoman Michele Fiore and Mayor Carolyn Goodman didn’t express more skepticism about the plans to rewrite decades-old zoning and master plan materials to convert a private golf course in an upscale planned community into hundreds of condominiums.

“Fiore and Goodman voted not to follow the law,” Seroka said. “The law was clear, and we voted whether or not to follow the law. While five of us said yes, two of us seemed to hold something in higher regard than the law. I don’t know what it is. I’m just kind of amazed that two of us hold something in higher regard. Why wouldn’t we all follow the law?”

It’s also true that judges sometimes make mistakes, and that’s what the appeal process is for. But Seroka’s sharp tone is undeniable.

Fiore, who has expressed concerns over a golf course development in Ward 6, was unavailable for comment. Goodman downplayed Seroka’s frustration and offered, “From our perspective, in the city we do rely on our legal counsel to advise us. Obviously, we follow the letter of the law as we are told it. We’re not a legal body. From day one, it just became evident that you have two private parties that have dug in.”

As she has many times in council meetings and in interviews, the mayor again called for compromise and added, “It’s so very, very sad.”

No one has to tell Coffin that. After four decades in public office, through many storms at the Legislature and at City Hall, he’s now accused of being anti-Semitic. Lowie is an Israeli of Jewish faith.

In an interview, Coffin tried to laugh about the other time he was sued -- years ago as a state senator by Northern Nevada prison inmates protesting the quality of their food -- but his heart wasn’t in it. He calls the broadside from Lowie not only inaccurate, but one of the lowest blows he can think of in a community in which he’s enjoyed friends from all races, religions, and walks of life. Coffin also acknowledged what he called the mean-spiritedness of the issue has weighed on him.

“It all has to do with money,” Coffin said. “It’s business to him, strictly business. If he can change the quorum, that’s what it’s all about. He could win.”

No reasonable person can doubt Lowie’s skill as a developer. As the founder and CEO of EHB Cos., he is the force behind the exclusive One Queensridge Place high-rise, Tivoli Village, the Sahara Center and -- irony alert -- downtown’s new Nevada Supreme and Appellate Court Building. It’s just a guess, but Lowie may be seeing more of that building soon.

Disagreements are common on the council and a healthy sign, but this issue transcends the usual spirited debate and public discourse. Whether you call it a new hardball politics for Las Vegas, or an abuse of process, it’s clearly more than strained the council’s general collegiality.

Given the accusations now leveled, it’s hard to imagine how any council member can feel comfortable. What if those who support EHB today change their minds tomorrow? Will they, too, be dragged into court.

If master plan and zoning safeguards can be steamrolled in one of the valley’s best neighborhoods, who can say with certainty the open space near your own home is safe?

For Lowie’s part, if city officials made promises to a developer that caused him to invest millions, who will be stuck with that bill.

Goodman may be right about compromise, but the chance for cooler heads to prevail at City Hall seems less likely with each passing day.

Contact John L. Smith at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.