County prepping for future Homestead and 160 rebuild
The intersection of Highway 160 and Homestead Road is set to see an addition in the form of a new commercial subdivision coined “Kingdom Corner” and as the developer – GNSL Pahrump LLC – moves forward with the site development process, a related offsite improvement agreement was approved this month.
“Per the [approved traffic] study, the developer is required to pay 21.7% of the cost of the intersection improvements along with 100% of a concrete center island to a point of about 50 feet south of their proposed driveway,” an item on the Nye County Commission’s Jan. 22 agenda detailed. “Due to the existing layout of the Homestead and SR-160 intersection, significant improvements will be required to add an additional left turn lane on Homestead. This agreement allows the developer to pay their required percentage as they build out the site.”
Nye County Commissioner Ian Bayne kicked off the discussion with a clarification for the public, remarking that he felt the manner in which the agenda item had been worded had left out a key component.
“It puts out that 21.7% of the cost of the intersection improvements are to go to the developer and I will say, to me, it’s provocatively written at best, because it doesn’t say where the 78.3% is [coming from],” Bayne stated.
Commissioner John Koenig said he had the same question and, also like Bayne and others on the board, many of his constituents had reached out to express their concerns with that particular element.
Both explained that conversations with staff provided the answer, which is that all of the various developers who have built on that intersection or whose traffic would impact that intersection will bear the cost collectively.
“They [residents] were basically assuming that the county was going to foot the bill for their (GNSL) development, which obviously is not the case,” commission chair Ron Boskovich asserted, later adding, “And the general public, it’s not their job to understand these intricate details. So, if we can paint it in a more easily understandable way, it’ll save us all headaches.”
“There will be no forwarding, no loaning, no payment by taxpayers?” Bayne asked for reiteration.
Nye County Public Works Director Tom Bolling jumped in to give an overview of where the dollars to improve the intersection come from. “Maverick contributed some, The Source contributed some,” Bolling said. “Every site development, every subdivision, this is part of their traffic study and it usually includes this intersection… It comes from multiple different developments, multiple different sources, the dollars that will go into it when we actually go to rebuild this intersection.”
Nye County Manager Brett Waggoner interjected to ensure the public understands that the improvements will not be developer-designed but rather, professionally engineered. The Nye County district attorney also noted that the Nevada Dept. of Transportation would have to approve of any intersection improvement plan as well, as the highway falls under NDOT’s jurisdiction.
Commissioner Debra Strickland made the motion to approve the off-site improvement agreement, with a second from Koenig. The motion passed 5-0.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com
