When is the Pahrump Zombie Lot Protest going to take place?

Are you one of the thousands of area property owners who have had their dreams crushed after learning that the lot you own is not buildable? If so, you may want to head out next Saturday to join in a visual display of displeasure and a call for remedy during the Zombie Lot Protest, hosted by the Pahrump Vacant Land Owners.

“Thousands of Pahrump property owners cannot legally use their own land due to lack of water and sewer infrastructure, which has created what is now known locally as the ‘zombie lot crisis,’” Patricia Robb, lead advocate for Pahrump Vacant Land Owners, explained. “Owners and residents will come together to rally Saturday, March 21 on the public sidewalk in front of the Pahrump Nugget to demand solutions.”

Zombie lots, as these unbuildable parcels have been dubbed, are those half an acre or smaller in size which are located outside of the service area of a utility company. These lots are also zoned Village Residential, which the Pahrump Vacant Land Owners believes is the crux of the problem. Village Residential zoning states that properties cannot be developed without water and sewer infrastructure. But, in order have a domestic well and septic, lots must be at least one acre in size, which allows for proper separation between the two systems. In the case of zombie lots, there is not enough space for these private systems, leaving their owners without any recourse. It’s an issue that has existed for decades but it’s only now gaining steam, as more and more people find out they have unwittingly purchased a zombie lot.

“Most people buy in Pahrump because it is an unincorporated rural town, which was to have less restrictions, unless they choose an HOA community on their own. Many of us have spoken at every board of county commissioners’ meeting since March of last year, with our proposed Super Conservation Lots zoning given in March and June. Other solutions have also been suggested. But the county chooses to do nothing,” Robb asserted. “We’re taking to the streets since the commissioners could not care less about these issues.”

County officials have reiterated multiple times the stance that zoning is not the heart of the issue – access to utility service is. “Rezoning is not going to be the answer to this,” Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi stated last summer when addressing the public outcry. “These zombie lots can only be developed if they have utilities and the county is not responsible for utilities.”

This answer is not something the Pahrump Vacant Land Owners are willing to accept, however, and they are continually pushing for the county to take some kind of action to remove the barriers of development for zombie lot owners.

The Pahrump Vacant Land Owners Zombie Lot Protest is slated for Saturday, March 21 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the corner of Highway 160 and Highway 372.

For more information, contact the group on its Facebook page.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com