Planners outlined new zones, including the 109-acre town center zone around the Calvada Eye, which encompasses properties bordering the island along Calvada Boulevard.

RPC member Garrick "Bat" Masterson thought that zone should extend all the way to Pahrump Valley Boulevard, which Preferred Equities Corp. initially planned as the Pahrump downtown in the 1970s, around where the Mountain View Casino is located.

He also suggested shared parking lots along Calvada Boulevard, which he said is the subject of a current lawsuit.

"We think that the opportunity for something exciting happening in part of the town center zone is something truly that has a lot of potential. The new town center zone allows your consolidation of civic uses, public gathering places, a really nice mix of small businesses and residences," Hogle Ireland consultant Kathy Lottes said.

Associate planner Ilona Dahlke said there are similar town centers in Palm Desert, Calif., and Green Valley, in Las Vegas, with pedestrian-friendly developments and public amenities like open spaces, wide sidewalks and interesting facades.

A Calvada Commercial zone would be located to the west, between Calvada Boulevard and Honeysuckle Park. Real estate agent Trish Rippie thought the Calvada Commercial zone would be a better location for the town center. She said the Calvada Eye doesn't have enough room for the pedestrian-friendly areas and other amenities being planned.

An area for medical support services is colored in around the new Desert View Regional Medical Center. Dan Harris, who has plans to develop in that area, pushed for including adult day care as a permitted use in that zone and zero side setbacks.

The visitor's commercial zone, at the west entrance to town along Highway 372 west of Barney Road, would encourage the orderly development of commercial areas designated to serve the needs of tourists driving into town. It would require one-acre minimum lot sizes.

Cheryl Beeman, interim Nye County planning director, said there is currently no water or sewer service in that area, making it difficult for developers for the near future.

The sticky situation along Homestead Road is the subject of the Homestead overlay zone. It's designed to permit neighborhood commercial development, for example, something like the Winery Super Mart on Highway 160 and Winery Road, that won't affect neighboring residences. Planners will require 25-foot setbacks for those businesses. Town board member Laurayne Murray wanted restrictions on outdoor lighting.

Hogle Ireland associate planner Robert Zegerra said his firm has recommendations to lessen the impact of general commercial development, like a Wal-Mart store, on neighboring residences, including decorative six-foot walls, specific hours for deliveries, keeping loading areas away from residences and even the orientation of speaker boxes for drive-through restaurants.

Minimum lot sizes would be increased from 10,000 to 20,000 square feet for commercial developments, to reduce the number of curb cuts on Highway 160 and improve traffic flow, he said.

Pahrump RPC Chairman Charles Dupre said optimistically, "We're not doing anything that's going to buy us any kind of lawsuit or anything else."

That statement elicited a grunt of sarcasm from the audience.