PAHRUMP VALLEY BOOM: Still growing and growing

By MARK WAITE

VIEW STAFF WRITER

If the growth in Pahrump has slowed down, businessman Joe Sladek finds it hard to believe.

Sladek, a State Farm Insurance agent, will be opening a business complex at 3250 S. Highway 160 next month including the town's third bank with a structure in the valley, Valley Bank, its second stockbroker, Edward D. Jones, a Coyote Cafe serving gourmet coffee, Lawyer's Title, Waterfield Financial, Realty Executives and Silver State Properties.

"It's just a temporary situation. The interest rates went up, the price of gas went up," Sladek said. "There's businesses wanting to come out here, there's just no room."

The Nye County Planning Department estimated a drop in Pahrump's population from the second quarter of 2000 to the third quarter, from 30,566 to 30,162. That came on the heels of population increases ranging from 12.5 to 14.5 percent the previous four years. Pahrump school enrollment was almost exactly the same in September 2000 as September 1999, with 3,700 students.

Donna Lamm, co-owner of Provenza-Neth properties, said while the average population growth rate in the U.S. was 1 percent over the last 20 years and 5.8 percent in Clark County, the Pahrump growth rate was 16.9 percent.

"That is the average growth over the last 20 years. I don't think that is going to stop. It's going to slow down, but a lot of that is in relation to the general economy nationwide. As soon as the Collins project is up and running again, that's going to make a huge difference," Lamm said.

E.A. Collins Development Corp. built about 30 of its planned 8,300 homes and six holes of the proposed 18-hole golf course on 2,850 acres at the south end of Pahrump Valley before running into financial problems. The project was taken over by the Summit Group, a mortgage lender from Georgia, last month and just after that came the death of company founder Al Collins and the filing of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan by E.A. Collins Development. Collins Development President Chuck Dixon resigned and will become president of the Summit Group.

"Contrary to recent reports, Collins' estate will maintain control of the Mountain Falls project at this time. Dixon has assured Collins' estate that the filing will in no way affect the pending sale of the project to the Summit Group," the company said in a written statement.

While that project has faltered, the continuing growth in Pahrump is visible looking down Highway 160, Pahrump's main street, from Sladek's complex. A new Nevada State Bank building is under construction. The Saddle West Casino just opened a 48-room hotel addition. The largest project of them all, a new Pahrump Nugget Casino, which will be Pahrump's fifth major casino, is scheduled to open in March.

The new business construction helped Pahrump building activity almost double from $29 million in new construction in 1999 to $47 million in 2000, with the Nugget, being built on 33 acres purchased by the chairman of the Mandalay Bay Resort Group Michael Ensign, valued at $6.37 million. Pahrump Nugget marketing manager Karin Watkins said they will be hiring up to 300 Pahrump employees next month.

Pahrump Town Board member Jim Mutton pointed out the town issued an average of 40 new business licenses per month in the year 2000.

"If you look at a growth curve, it's never an exact upward line, there's always plateaus and dips," said Trish Rippie, chairwoman of the Economic Development Authority of Esmeralda and Nye Counties.

"We've had a few setbacks such as Mountain Falls," Rippie said. "From everything we see in EDEN, the office here is swamped with calls. We can't keep up with companies, businesses and inquiries."

Tim Hafen, a developer and Pahrump Valley resident for 50 years, blamed a temporary slowdown on negative publicity about the Pahrump water situation that he says wasn't accurate, and problems with the Mountain Falls project.

"In spite of everything else, we're doing quite well with it. I think that the homebuilders are doing quite well," Hafen said. He added, "A lot of people are buying lots for investment, a lot of people are buying lots intending to build on them, but not yet."

"We haven't seen a slowdown at all," said Steve Balint, Nevada State Bank branch manager. "We're getting a lot more business accounts, a lot more business clients, a lot more business loans."

Fluctuating interest rates may have caused some clients to time the withdrawal of their loans more carefully, Balint said.

Barry Hulin, chief executive officer of Henderson-based Valley Bank, said his bank decided to locate in Pahrump after reading Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reports in July 1999 about $114 million on deposit at the two existing banks in Pahrump.

"Our view has not changed. We think that the short, medium and long term future of Pahrump is very positive. I think the Collins fiasco is coloring some people's thinking -- I think incorrectly. That's kind of a localized blip. I also think that eventually the amount of money he spent on that project -- someone will come in and make it work. I think it's a good location," Hulin said.

"It's very easy sitting over here on this side of the hill to take pot shots at Pahrump. That's one of the reasons we're going there, I don't think people have taken the time to study what's going on over there," he said.

Rick Peet, who opened a car dealership in Pahrump last fall, said he sold 70 used and 28 new cars last month and serviced an average of 30 vehicles per day.

"We're doing wonderful. We're doing very well. Last month we sold 100. We're right on track if not ahead of where we thought we should be," Peet said. "We've been very well received, we really have."

John Garner will mark his second year in Pahrump this May as a stockbroker for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.

"We did our demographics and we found out that there are several hundred million dollars in this valley and there was not a permanent broker in town," Garner said.

"We're typically not in small towns like this but it's just been fantastic. We've got people moving in from all over the country. I opened more accounts last year than all of the Morgan Stanley brokers in Vegas and there's 70 around town."

"These are six-figure accounts that come in. A high percentage of my clients are retired people that have made their money, they want to hang onto it and have growth," Garner said.

Bob Little, a Century 21 Real Estate broker, said the price of one-acre lots is still inexpensive, with the average sale price increasing from $15,000 in 1998, to $16,500 today, although he admitted some people are asking $28,000 to $30,000.

"Our biggest problem right now is the (cost of) gasoline because we're a bedroom community. When you're already fighting the concept of people commuting to work and then when you're trying to attract people, they read about declining water," Little said.

Stereotypes about Pahrump people living in trailers aren't all accurate. Nye County Assessor's Office reports show the percentage of stick-built homes has increased from 20.9 percent in 1995 to 26.2 percent in 2000, a figure Little called too low. While mobile homes have shrunk from 67.6 percent of the housing to 53.3 percent, the percentage of mobile home conversions doubled from 7.2 percent to 15.6 percent. There are also fine quality manufactured homes.

While some perceive the town as a hangout for outlaws, Dennis Smith, acting administrator of the Nevada Parole and Probation Department District III, said there are only 160 residents in Pahrump on adult probation or parole. "Proportionately, it's probably not any worse than anywhere else," he said.

While school principal Jerry Hill said 9 percent of his student body is on probation, he said Pahrump Valley High doesn't have any gangs or guns like big city schools, calling it, "a 1950s school." One-third of the members of the 2000 senior class -- 65 out of 185 students -- qualified for the Nevada Millennium scholarship program with a four-year grade point average of 3.0 or better, Hill said.

"I think we've got some good things going considering, technology for example. We now have a computer in every classroom," Deputy Superintendent Wil Booker said. "We can't brag about the test scores, but we can brag about where we were three years ago and where we are now. Our test scores are going up, there's a pattern. It's still not the best, but they're going up."

Last March, Manse Elementary School was the first Nevada school to receive model school status under the Reading Renaissance Program. Booker said at one of the other two elementary schools, Mount Charleston Elementary, students doubled their performance on Terra Nova test scores in three years.

Willow Creek Head Golf Pro Jim Kirwan has been wooing Las Vegas golfers to play rounds in Pahrump. While Willow Creek increased its winter rates to $45 midweek and $60 weekends, that's still half the cost of green fees at Las Vegas courses, even less with the purchase of certain player's cards, he said.

Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce President Robert Worden, a lifelong resident, said he sees an upturn in growth, but that hinges on two projects that have been on the back burner the last six months, Mountain Falls and The Oasis at Shangri-la, a large development proposed by the Forum Group Ltd. Worden foresees more controlled growth in Pahrump's future instead of a boomtown pace which can lead to a bust town.

While the Mountain Falls founder targeted his homes to commuters to Las Vegas, Worden said the ultimate goal is to obtain high-paying jobs in Pahrump to attract families who usually move where the jobs are.

"People will commute to Las Vegas, but it does take a special person who is willing to make that drive every day to appreciate the lifestyle they have in Pahrump," Worden said. "We've got clean air. We've got beautiful views. Let's face it, wherever you turn you've got picture perfect views."

Pahrump won't have the traffic nightmares of Las Vegas for some time, he said. While published reports often refer to legal prostitution, the two legal brothels in the southwest corner of the Pahrump Valley, Worden said they are legal businesses quietly ignored by locals. They have less impact on the town's image than 100 strip clubs in Las Vegas, he said.