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May 25, 2005
BUSINESS Nye commissioners approve lumberyardPAHRUMP FINALLY OBTAINS 'CUTTING EDGE' JOBS
By PHILLIP GOMEZ Construction of the lumberyard has been slated for a five-acre site at 3201 South Bride St. and 4377 East Dandelion St. The property was formerly in the Open Use District, according to the county's master plan. The site is adjacent to a 10-acre vacant parcel zoned for development as medium-density residential. The new business, Desert Lumber, raised concerns of neighbors and the commissioners regarding potential wood sawing noise and nighttime lighting of the yard. After much discussion - following an equal amount of debate on April 13 at the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission hearing where the application passed in a narrow 4-3 decision - the rezone to General Commercial and the Conditional Use Permit were granted with special conditions: an enclosed saw room and hours of operation limited to between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Also insisted upon were a six-month trial period and subsequent commission review, with the hours of operation subject to change. Dale M. Eggers, the vice president of Desert Lumber, dispelled concerns about loud noise and glaring lights emitting from the open yard. "If we would work a night shift, the lighting would be downward," he said. "It would be out of the norm to receive diesel truck loads at night," he added. The lumberyard business is not of the old-fashioned kind, but deals in pre-cut and packaged, bulk shipments to the yard, where the lumber and plywood are further milled and refined to builder specifications, according to Eggers. The company uses small three-horsepower electric saws to cut its lumber. Desert Lumber plans to sell its product to single-family, multi-family and commercial builders. "We're not a mill," Eggers said. "We're a re-packaging (plant). I just really think it's not a noise issue." A casino would bring in more noise and traffic, he added. Eggers said he did not want to be placed at a competitive disadvantage by having the commission limit his hours of operation, especially with Pahrump's building boom, but agreed to the late-hour restrictions imposed by the commission. The company plans to build a solid wall around the property and to landscape its edges in order to provide sound and sight buffering for neighbors. Nine fire hydrants, approved by the state fire marshal, are to serve fire protection needs. The sticking point for the commissioners was the very existence of a lumberyard in a mixed-use commercial-residential area. "I have a huge problem with that being in a mixed-use area," said Commissioner Patricia Cox. Retired resident Arthur Jones said, "We seniors came out here to live in peace and quiet." In response to Eggers' repeated references to Las Vegas, where the company is presently located, Jones said, "What you do in Las Vegas, keep it in Las Vegas." On that note, the normally quiet and low-keyed Commissioner Midge Carver agreed with Jones, saying, "It's very irritating; it's very irritating." Referring to urban Las Vegas and workers at the Yucca Mountain project who commute from there, Carver said, "They're 90 miles south of us." "We don't want them any closer because they might contaminate our nuclear waste," joked Commissioner Joni Eastley. The dark humor interjected in the proceedings shed light on the commission's resentment toward Las Vegas as the metropolitan hub of the region and Nye County's desires to attract commercial development while at the same time remaining rural. "I struggle with this," said Eastley. "I want jobs in Pahrump so badly. There has to be more for the people we represent than casinos." Desert Lumber plans to operate with a workforce of 20 to 70, Eggers said, depending on the number of work shifts it runs. That, in turn, depends on Pahrump's continuing population boom. But for earlier arriving residents to the area, the new development spelled change. A mobile home park exists in the location of the lumberyard, Carver said. "I think consideration should be made for the people who live there," she said. The application passed unanimously, 4-0, with such considerations built in. |
