TONOPAH -- The Focus Group development agreement for 5,800 housing units on the southeastern entrance to Pahrump Valley would be disastrous to the valley infrastructure, result in tons of three-story houses marring the scenery and would be a tragedy on a master scale that would destroy the community, according to some public comments made during Tuesday's Nye County Commissioners' meeting.

Commissioners were threatened at the ballot box if they approved the agreement, while one objector said developers should be ashamed for bringing up "such a hashed-up agreement."

Focus Property Group wants permission to design portions of its master-planned community with 4,000-square-foot lots, half the minimum size under county code, and that has become the major item of contention.

"They can't put eight two-story homes on an acre," said Bill Wallace. "I'm against Focus Group slamming houses in Pahrump like in Las Vegas on Highway 160 and Durango."

"This is shades of Calvada and other people who have come in here with these developments and they want the people of Pahrump to bend over and welcome them. All of us had a chance to speak up and say how we feel about our master plan and we should stick with it," Yvonne Smith said. Under the Calvada project by Preferred Equities Corporation in the 1970s, homes were plotted without necessary infrastructure, even street access, an error the county spent years trying to correct.

"I really don't want to see apartment complexes, I don't want to see tons of three-story homes sticking their ugly heads above our scenery. If they want to build that, Las Vegas is the best place to build it," she said.

John Brent said Focus Group's plan amounted to "out of control, corporate bullying of our policies and procedures."

"Our ordinances and master plan are being trashed, the county's wishes are being ignored. Their whole development is incompatible with what Nye County and this town represent," Brent said. "What they're asking for would be tragedy on a master scale and would destroy our community. Our master plan was adopted representing the wishes of the people and it's integrity needs to be maintained."

Brent said if commissioners can't reject the Focus Group master plan, they should resign from office.

Lawrence Baker, a member of the Nye County Well Owners Association, also threatened the commissioners. "If the commission passes this resolution without delaying it, without looking over the details, there's going to be repercussions on election day against the commissioners who signed it."

John McDonald said the agreement is too big and requires county financial obligations. He took issue with Focus Group agreeing to build improvements, then taking credit on impact fees, like the Highway 160 improvements.

McDonald asked for "a contract free of smoke and mirrors."

Norma Jean Opatik said Pahrump is trying to get traffic lights installed at existing problem intersections which meet Nevada Department of Transportation warrants. She liked the idea of holding a referendum to let Pahrump residents vote on the development agreement.

"Everybody I talked to is vehemently against it," George Gingell said. "It seems to me all these developers aren't going broke at 8,000-square-foot lots."

He added, "Another concern of mine is, I realize they have the water rights. But water rights to me are a piece of paper until a well is drilled, and there's nothing in this about a hydrologist's report to see how it's going to affect the wells in the south end, which are going down, from what I understand, about a foot a year."

County commission candidate Andrew "Butch" Borasky said the county's own hydrologist, Tom Buqo, warned commissioners about a serious problem with water down the road. He urged commissioners to put a long-range water plan in place.

"The water table's dropping. Nobody's addressing the issue," Borasky said.

Rose Marie Price said Pahrump doesn't need this development, it needs businesses that pay a decent wage.

"We do not have enough water for all of those planned homes. You people need to listen to the people who got you elected, not the people who contributed money," she said.

I.W. Whitworth said in his former home, Incline Village, instituted a moratorium on development until they resolved problems. He said Focus Group "manipulates through arrogance and pressure."

John Walker said the project is "not just a question of elbow room, it's a question of fire safety ... We could end up with a tremendous firestorm in this development, all these people and all these cars parked on lots so close together."

Bill Garlough said while Commissioner Gary Hollis stated in the past that commissioners can't tell people what to do with their property, every month the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission does just that.

"There's an undercurrent of disdain for our community and the citizens that live in it," said Jan Bearss, a candidate for Nye County commissioner. "I also feel there's been a lack of respect for commissioners and the county in this, everything comes up at the last minute."

There are concerns over an agreement by Focus Group to pay for the planning, but Spalding said that would entail the development company having the ability to submit three names to the planning department and the ability to supervise that person.

"They're always talking about the things they're giving us," she said. "They're taking credit for a lot of things the homeowners are going to pay for."

Spalding said people aren't happy with three-story houses. The code allows them to build up to 45 feet, she said.

Residents were asked to table the discussion until a Pahrump hearing. Only Commissioner Candice Trummell was present with the objectors at the Pahrump Community Center.

The only comment in favor of the Focus Group came from Larry Hughes, representing Anchor Development.

"They need the 4,000-square-foot lots to make sense of certain, technical design issues. The other point is the developers are going to build to their water (capacity)," Hughes said.

Hughes said what will ruin the rural nature of Pahrump is rejecting the denser development, which will allow urban sprawl.

"The visible difference in size of the lots between, say, a 5,500 and 8,000 (square-foot lot), those are difficult to ascertain as you drive by," he said. "You're just forcing them to spread their development out over a much larger area."

Commissioner Joni Eastley expressed concerns about approving the agreement, in light of the flood of phone calls and emails in opposition.

Commissioner Patricia Cox concurred: "This community has spoken loud and clear, they don't want to see houses stacked on top of houses."

But Trummell countered, saying, "Ultimately we have to look beyond the number of people who show up at a given meeting.

"If you think the people are actually going to read 200 pages, then we need to start operating by ballot initiatives, which isn't going to be an efficient way to do business. Most of the comments have exactly the same language. Anyone can motivate 50 people, given the same information you're going to hand out."