Frontier
spirit
By Nick Haley
Real Estate Writer
For years, travellers on state Route 160 near the southern town limits of Pahrump could see an enormous field of alfalfa on the west side of the road. When developer Al Collins saw the site on a visit to the town two years ago, he saw a rare opportunity to relive his days as a contractor in a small, promising town.
"It looked like Las Vegas when my brother and I came here in 1952, when it had 40,000 people," Collins said. "We look (at the Pahrump Valley) and we see the same thing here that we saw then. It's time for it to grow."
Pahrump has an estimated population between 25,000 and 35,000. It has grown rapidly since 1990, punctuated by a 15 percent annual growth rate for the past five years. It is expected to increase that pace slightly for at least the next five years.
By contrast, the city of North Las Vegas, which recently was declared the fastest growing city (population 100,000 or more) in the country, experienced a growth rate of less than 10 percent last year.
According to Ed Bishop, vice chairman of the Pahrump Town Board, there are two major groups of people who move to Pahrump: retirees from the western United States and young families drawn out by cheap land.
"I think there's one major reason why people come (to Pahrump): These people want to be close to Las Vegas, but not live in Las Vegas," Bishop said.
Although the boom is hardly new anymore, Bishop said this year is in many ways a watershed for the southern Nye County town.
"Two-thousand is going to be a very big year for Pahrump," he said.
Because it has grown so rapidly since the last U.S. Census, the town is underrepresented within its county government. Results of the 2000 Census will increase its representation on the five-seat Nye County Commission, possibly from two seats to four.
"What I believe the Census will do is give us three commissioners entirely within Pahrump and another one that is shared with, say, Amargosa Valley and maybe a few other smaller communities," Bishop said.
The population shift within the county may even lead to moving the county seat from Tonopah, 150 miles to the north, to Pahrump, he said. With close to 80 percent of Nye County's population in Pahrump, this would be a welcome relief for most residents, who face long drives to the county seat for civic functions such as jury duty.
Is Pahrump prepared to add the infrastructure it needs to provide civic services to its rapidly growing population?
"No," Bishop said.
Development, he said, is rapidly outpacing the town's ability to add emergency services -- ambulance calls were up 35 percent last year. The town is building a middle school and has plans to build a high school and elementary school. There's little question about need; the town simply doesn't have the resources.
"We're struggling to keep up," Bishop said.
Although not all are opposed to growth per se, some longer-term residents of Pahrump fear the loss of their lifestyle. Many changes already are apparent. Cafes are out, and fast food is in. Mom-and-pop grocery stores have closed, displaced by supermarkets.
Until recent years, Pahrump was a well-known refuge for people wanting to get away from laws and regulation. Building codes were enacted only 1 1/2 years ago. Zoning isn't expected to be added until later this year. And prostitution is still legal just outside of town limits.
Other changes are on the horizon. Bishop said many residents fear zoning will force them to remove their livestock or businesses from their residences, something he can't assure them won't happen.
"My personal hope is that we can manage to maintain that small town. I hope we can strike a balance between city and rural. I don't want to give up (keeping chickens in my yard)," Bishop said.
Bishop points out that many changes are welcome. Land values have soared. Recently, the town acquired 424 acres from the Bureau of Land Management for recreational purposes, possibly a fairgrounds. Additionally, work on Route 160 has made the commute to Las Vegas far less accident-prone.
Pahrump also has a new training facility opening soon. The Community College of Southern Nevada has started work on a new high-tech learning center, expected to open in the fall. The center, which teaches work-related skills, is expected to be a catalyst for job growth.
Plans for additional facilities are under way. The town board wants to add a full-fledged community college campus and has earmarked 80 acres near the Pahrump Valley Winery as a potential site.
The most noticeable change, however, is in the number of residences.
"Pahrump's not gonna be the same anymore," Collins said.
Two years ago, he began acquiring parcels on the southern end of town, extending slightly over the Clark County line.
Last year, he started construction on his 3,000-acre Mountain Falls master- planned community. Plans for the development, the largest ever in the Pahrump Valley, call for 8,300 homes, an 18-hole golf course, parks, three hotel-casinos, a two-story indoor mall attached to a resort, and a business center.
Although it resembles several Las Vegas-area master plans in many ways such as its guardhouse entrance, the development is as unconventional as the town where it's located. The parcel, believed to be a meeting place between explorer John C. Fremont and a band of Paiutes, sits on artesian springs that provide ample water. Collins estimates he has about 11,000 acre-feet of water, enough to service the golf course, homes and businesses in the master plan with plenty to spare.
Homes that Collins is building will also have some unusual features. All exterior walls and ceilings will be built from preassembled steel-and-foam sections that Collins manufactures at a plant on Sunset Road. One semi can haul the framing components for an entire home. The sections insulate the homes like a Styrofoam cup, are far more fire- retardant, are expected to last longer and, Collins believes, will ultimately be faster to assemble than a wood-frame home.
"When we get cookin', we'll be able to stand the walls, the roof and everything in about 10 1/2 hours," he said.
Another material, CPVC, is being used for perimeter walls. The white plastic is lightweight, flexible and fairly durable, according to an on-site sales agent.
The first homes were recently completed at the project. A 2,104-square-foot home on a 125X75-foot lot sells for $151,000. It includes a three-car garage and is fully landscaped.
Although retirees will be a large share of his home- buying market, Collins believes he can attract young families as well. He plans to create many jobs in the community, including the possibility of moving his steel-and-foam assembly plant.
If successful, Collins said the assembly plant would export ready-to-raise framing components to building sites worldwide. He plans to add manufacturing and warehousing to the Pahrump Valley.
Additionally, he believes he can draw Las Vegas commuters who wish to live a simpler life away from the city.
"I think a lot of people are tired of the smog, the traffic ... of the city and they're looking for a better place to live and raise their kids," Collins said.
Collins shrugs off questions about the remoteness of his development from employment centers. He believes the commute to the Strip, about 50 miles, is comparable to one from northwest Las Vegas to Henderson. And he points out that 6,000 commuters a day already travel Route 160 from Pahrump to Las Vegas, as of July 1999.
Besides, he said, it isn't the first time someone suggested he was building out in the boonies.
"We've done this in Las Vegas. When we built out at Flamingo and Sandhill years ago, we were told it was too far out of town," he said.
Other developers apparently share his optimism. Tim Hafen, from whom Collins purchased much of his Pahrump land, is offering about 500 homes on the south end of the valley. Another subdivision, Desert Trails, is open on the north end of the valley.
A more recently announced development is Oasis at Shangri-La, a major resort property to be built near the center of town.Sunday, April 2, 2000 aPage 1M
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