HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT A view of the existing Terrible's Town Casino from Highway 160. HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT A recreational vehicle sales office will be torn down as a casino, restaurant, parking garage and eight movie theaters are constructed to the south of the current Terrible's Town casino. Advertisement

Plans for the expansion of Terrible's Town Casino were recommended for approval by the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission Wednesday, but the T.G.I. Fridays restaurant drawn on the plans may not be the actual restaurant.

The plan is to break ground on the expansion about the first of the year, Terrible's Town General Manager Bill Ladd said yesterday.

Architect Patrick Lenahan, from Kansas City, who presented the plans, said a T.G.I. Fridays was labeled on the plans, but the Herbst family, which runs Terrible's Town Casino, has talked to a number of national restaurant chains. However, a local representative said there is a good likelihood it will be a T.G.I. Fridays.

"I don't think they've signed any agreements with them. Fridays people were here last week looking at the place, but it's going to be them or somebody similar to it," Ladd said.

Representatives of the T.G.I. Fridays restaurant chain didn't respond to a request for comment by press time yesterday.

The eight theaters constructed as part of the expansion would be run by the Brendan Theaters chain, which also operates theaters at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas.

Nye County Commissioners will have the final say on approving the plans at an Oct. 18 meeting.

The RPC recommended approval of the zone change from the old open-use district to general commercial and the conditional use permit for the 12.16-acre site at Highway 160 and Crawford Way. Waivers were also approved on parking requirements.

Nye County Planner Steve Osborne said the company is allowed a 25 percent waiver from the requirement to provide 1,839 parking spaces. The plans call for 1,387 parking spaces with the construction of a parking garage. RPC member Garry Warner said there's a height restriction of 48 feet. Osborne said plans call for a five-story parking garage, but one level would be underground.

"Those of us who are dying to get a movie theater in town don't want to say anything. But aren't we creating an ingress and egress problem across Highway 160 at Crawford Way that could become fairly significant?" wondered RPC member Mark Kimball.

Planning department staff allowed the submission of plans before the traffic studies are completed due to the time it takes to complete them, Lenahan said. But he said a traffic study will be completed before a building permit is requested.

RPC member Andrew "Butch" Borasky also expressed concerns over serious traffic problems at Highway 160 and Crawford Way, where there have been requests for a left-turn signal.

Warner asked about a map of reversion, as the project crosses property lines. Osborne said the owners have a long-term lease agreement with the other property owners that doesn't require the map.

A waiver of the maximum 300-foot distance from the parking area to the nearest entrance was also approved.

The conditional use permit is required for installation of more than 15 slot machines under Nye County code. The casino has been grandfathered in to current requirements for establishments operating full casino gaming to include a hotel, RPC Chairman Charles Dupre said. Terrible's Town Casino opened in 1996.

The approval of a detailed site development plan is required before issuance of a building permit. A four-story, 100-room hotel is shown in the plans as phase two of the project, which would be located behind the casino. Expansion of the movie theaters from eight to 12, an additional casino expansion and an expansion of the parking garage are also shown in phase two plans.