A settlement was reached in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week over common areas in Calvada Units Six and Seven, cleaning up another piece of the puzzle left by the Preferred Equities Corp. bankruptcy.

The common areas, often used for parking, were sold after the PEC bankruptcy in 2003.

Phil Huff, president of the Calvada Unit Six Property Owner's Association, said the agreement approved by Judge Mike Nakagawa calls for his homeowners group to acquire the 38.2-acre common areas in Unit Six for $80,000.

That includes areas south of Honeysuckle Park and north of Calvada Boulevard, between Pahrump Valley Boulevard on the west and Dandelion Street on the east.

Businesses like the Mountain View Casino and Eve 'N Keel Bar, will acquire 25 acres of common areas for $80,000 in the more developed Calvada Unit Seven subdivision on the northwest side of Pahrump Valley Boulevard and Calvada Boulevard.

Kim Washington, secretary of the Calvada Unit Seven lot owners association and a real estate broker, said she helped organize that homeowners group three and a half years ago to file suit over the common areas.

Calvada Unit Six lot owners joined in the suit about six months ago, she said.

"Without this none of us could really build. They could've stopped ingress, egress. It could've been quite a mess. But now we can move forward and start building," Washington said.

The litigation came up when Washington went before the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission last April for a zone change for an office building on Pahrump Valley Boulevard just north of Calvada Boulevard.

"If you build on this, where will your customers park?" RPC member Dan Schinhofen asked.

Former Planning Director Cheryl Beeman said property owners would have to contain parking on the site of their parcel, admitting that would be difficult on lots as small as 25 feet by 100 feet.

At the time, Washington told RPC members people building on lots around the common area while the case was in court built at their own risk.

RPC member Carrick "Bat" Masterson said if the case went against the homeowners groups, "No one will have parking in that area. We will have no ingress and egress to buildings already there." It would force businesses around the common area to close, he said.

The settlement is a far cry from the $350,000 property owners Nevada Meridian, L'Eau and Renate Schiff initially requested. The company stated it paid $176,000 to acquire the common areas in the PEC bankruptcy, acquired another $135,000 in attorney fees, back taxes of over $16,000 and surveying costs of $19,000.

Washington said there are about 100 property owners in Unit Seven, while Huff said there are 281 property owners in Unit Six to split the acquisition cost.

Huff said it has been more difficult to organize property owners in his less-developed Section Six to acquire the common areas.

"We need to raise $80,000 in 180 days to buy the property," Huff said. "They (the property owners) don't realize with no parking their property is worthless."

Laurel Davis, an attorney for Nevada Meridian, stated in a settlement letter dated March 1, the PEC master plan wasn't developed and no recreational facilities were constructed in the common areas.

"It is a fair assumption that the alleged common area of 68.5 acres was not intended to be used solely as a parking lot," Davis wrote.

But a proposal by Nevada Meridian to retain 34.29 acres, half of the common areas, was tossed in the bankruptcy court settlement, Washington said.

Davis wrote the proposed settlement didn't resolve issues with the conditions, covenants and restrictions of Calvada -- like the use of common areas -- but the company chose not to continue with costly litigation.

Some of the lots lining major thoroughfares like Calvada Boulevard and Honeysuckle Street are small, 25-foot lots, with zero lot lines and no room for parking in front. That's made it difficult to rezone properties without the benefit of the parking in the common areas.