What development is planned along Hwy. 160?

Commercial development in the Pahrump Valley has been on the rise and yet another project is making its way toward fruition, with the final commercial subdivision map for South Palms Center approved and filed last month.

Located on a 30.62 acre parcel at 4639 S. Hwy. 160, the commercial subdivision will extend from the intersection of Wheeler Pass Road to the entrance of Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club.

“The purpose of this application is to create a commercial subdivision… in order to accommodate potential buyers for future development, which will also improve the value of the surrounding area,” Russ Meads, president of Double M Construction and agent for the property owner R 503 LLC, explained in the application information. Zoned general commercial, the property allows for such uses as offices, hotels, restaurants, cafes, retail shops and other such businesses.

The project’s proximity to another area entryway which gives access Mountain Falls, as well as various other planned and proposed developments, had some concerned about the impact it could have on the already high-traffic corridor.

During the board’s Oct. 15 meeting, Nye County Commission Chair Debra Strickland asked whether the South Palms Center project would access the roundabout that has been approved for Highway 160 near Dalton Street and Meads confirmed that it would not.

Commissioner Frank Carbone then asked whether the project would utilize a frontage road but Meads explained that it would be direct-highway access.

“Any future development is going to require a site development plan to be done prior,” Nye County Assistant Planning Director Steve Osborne noted. “And that’s when the traffic studies, drainage studies, all of those would be done - at the site development stage.”

Meads added that at this time, there is no specific development planned for the parcel, though he is certain it won’t be long in coming.

“Once’s that’s been decided, then yes, a traffic study would be engaged in and whatever they required - whether it be widening the highway or adding a turning lane, whatever that may impose - would be put into the project,” Meads assured.

“There’re some wonderful projects coming to the area, that we’ve been in negotiations with for quite some time, waiting for us to get the map completed,” Meads continued. “And we’ve been timing together with the Silverton project, the hotel and casino that is moving forward rapidly at this point and we expect to see a large change to the landscape there over the next couple of years. Pretty exciting for our community.”

As part of the conditions of approval, developers will also be required to remove all six of the existing billboards located on the property at the time of development, something that had Strickland obviously excited.

“Yay!” Strickland celebrated, adding, “They say the reason we can’t have this as a scenic route, is because we have too many billboards. That’s a determination by the powers that be on the designation of scenic routes. So we could see more tourism if we didn’t have billboards.”

Carbone motioned to approve the final map, with a second from commissioner Ron Boskovich. The motion passed 4-0 with commissioner Donna Cox absent.

“Go build some cool stuff,” Strickland concluded.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com