Plans advance for new Dollar General store

A proposed Dollar General store took a step closer to construction after the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission meeting Wednesday. Mike Floyd received favorable rezoning for a parcel on Carlton Street for the proposed commercial project.

Leaf Properties Inc., the landlord for the property on which the Dollar General Store will be located southwest of Bell Vista Avenue and Highway 160, received permission to vacate a 331-foot portion of the Frontage Road. Planner Beth Lee said the applicant is in escrow to purchase the property, on which they will build a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store. There will be a cross-access easement allowing adjacent properties to access Highway 160, according to the planning department report, but two adjoining properties are under the same ownership.

The county accepted the Frontage Road for dedication along that portion of Highway 160 in 1970 but it was never developed. Approval would allow the store to be moved closer to Highway 160 giving it greater visibility, Lee said.

RPC member Bob King said the only portions of the Highway 160 Frontage Road that were developed were much farther south, across from Wal-Mart and from McDonald’s Restaurant to Wells Fargo Bank. He proposed vacating other sections of Frontage Road that seem to go nowhere in a future meeting. He said it takes property off the tax rolls.

Consultant Dave Richards, with CivilWise Services, said his client wants to move to abandon the Frontage Road now, rather than wait for a broader plan.

“We would like to move forward with the vacation of a portion in front of this parcel because of timing issues with Dollar General and their requirements. There is not enough time to go through the public process, advertising, vacating the entire Frontage Road,” Richards said.

He said the Frontage Road is 80 feet wide, when combined with the vacant land between the paved highway and the right-of-way line it will amount to over 100 feet of vacant land that will never get developed.

“To top that off in support of this, the highway department will only allow so many accesses along that property. So each individual lot will not be able to get its own access,” Richards said.

On the other matter, Floyd received approval for a tentative map to create the Heritage 1 Subdivision on 2.92 acres at 1230 S. Loop Road near the southeast corner of Loop Road and Highway 160. Lee said Floyd has a potential buyer for the property, which is zoned general commercial. Floyd wouldn’t disclose his future tenant, which he said would be considered at next month’s RPC meeting.

Floyd requested and received waivers on requirements to pave curbs, gutters and sidewalks, along with requested paving improvements to Carlton Street. He will also not be required to submit a traffic impact analysis and drainage study, after a motion from RPC member Greg Hafen II. Floyd said Carlton Street is already paved and to put in curbs, gutters and sidewalks would be too expensive.

“I feel I should have to just take care of the portion of the property that’s going to be developed right now. I think that’s consistent with some other projects in town,” Floyd said. He proposed improving 300 feet of Carlton Street in front of his project.

“For me to do a traffic impact study on this lot is going to be very difficult because I don’t know what’s going to be developed in the future, other than what’s in there now,” Floyd said. “What am I going to base my study on? Some bare dirt up there?”

RPC Chairman John Koenig concurred. “How do you do a traffic impact study if you’re going to sell something and you don’t know what they want to put there?”

Nye County Public Works Director Dave Fanning said the site development review will consider standard guidelines for determining what kind of traffic the project would draw based on square footage and other factors.

Floyd said he commissioned a drainage study a few years ago on a proposal that fell through for property across the street. He wants to use those plans and studies for this project.

In February 2008, members of the Floyd family participated in a groundbreaking for the Heritage Plaza Shopping Center, across from the former Floyd’s Ace Hardware Store on Loop Road; they excavated 18,000 square feet, but plans fell through for the upscale shopping center on 4.3 acres.

Hafen said it would have to be a fairly large scale business to generate traffic impact studies.