MARK WAITE / PVT Construction workers were hard at work this week putting up house frames on Santa Fiora Street in the Bella Sera section of Mountain Falls. Advertisement

The Pahrump Building and Safety Department issued 37 percent fewer building permits in the fiscal year that ended June 30 than the year before.

But in one promising sign, William Lyon Homes took out 29 building permits to construct single-family homes in Mountain Falls from April through June.

Despite that, the building permits issued for construction of single-family homes plunged 200 percent from 704 issuances between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007, to 217 in the time period from July 1, 2007, to this past June 30.

Statistics from Charles Abbott and Associates show 737 total building permits were issued from July 1, 2007, through June 30, a drop from 1,290 the year before.

The total number of building permits dropped below 100 per month in August 2007. Figures dipped to 32 building permits apiece in both December and January.

When it comes to single-family home construction, 41 permits were issued in July 2007, then dropped steadily down to monthly totals in the single digits by October 2007.

There were only five building permits issued for construction of single-family homes in December 2007 and only two in February 2008 -- a residence going up on Silver Sage Street and duplexes on Teepee Road near the Calvada Eye.

Edward Homes took out three building permits for single-family homes in the Ishani Ridge subdivision on Wilson Road in December and another three permits in October.

But elsewhere, Celebrate Homes was granted an extension of time in May from a requirement to present a final map within two years for a subdivision on Blagg Road and Mesquite Avenue that is to include 116 lots on 41.6 acres.

Beazer Homes hasn't taken out a building permit since January for its Tesora at Pahrump project, which is to include 586 residential lots.

Permits issued for installation of manufactured homes dropped from 184 in the 2006-07 fiscal year to 97 in 2007-08.

The building department collected $676,306 in fees last fiscal year, a 67 percent drop from $1.23 million in 2006-07. That includes everything from building permits for new homes to plan reviews of proposed projects to septic tank permits to manufactured home installation.

Impact fees were collected for 18 new commercial projects in the last fiscal year.

R&O Construction Company paid $28,588 for the Home Depot building permit last October, by far the biggest commercial project. Home Depot expects to hold a grand opening Aug. 14.

A pair of commercial projects are going up on Homestead Road just north of Dandelion Street -- the new animal hospital and an office complex down the street. Shadow Mountain Construction and Built-Well Construction put up new malls on East Basin Avenue near the Nye County Government Complex.

A number of projects are on the drawing board, drawing some optimism.

Pahrump Senior Building Inspector Brent Steed said he expects plans to be presented soon on the addition to the Pahrump Nugget Casino that will include an eight-plex movie theater.

The building department returned comments on the plans for the Holiday Inn Express and Buffalo Southwest Grill along the Frontage Road but hasn't received a reply, Steed said.

Then there's the large federal detention center project. Officials with Corrections Corporation of America expect to receive their biological opinion next month on that project on East Mesquite Avenue.