MARK WAITE / PVT Debra Bowman, left, objects to plans for a hotel and casino recommended for South Hafen Ranch Road by Raja Gangadharan, who listens patiently at right. Advertisement

Raja Gangadharan, owner of K-7 Pizza on South Hafen Ranch Road at Thousandaire Boulevard, persuaded Pahrump Regional Planning commissioners Wednesday, to approve his dream for a 45-room hotel and casino, despite mixed reactions from area residents.

The recommendation to approve a zone change to convert his property from neighborhood commercial to general commercial passed unanimously. A conditional use permit was approved by a 6-1 vote, with RPC member Dan Schinhofen opposed.

It will be heard by Nye County commissioners June 17.

Planner Ryan Pharr said the property is in an area changing over to commercial use. He said the master plan calls for surrounding properties to be general commercial.

The plan calls for an Indian-themed hotel. Gangadharan is a native of South India. A hotel would allow Gangadharan to acquire an unrestricted gaming license, though he said he doesn't plan to offer live gaming.

Gangadharan plans to have a restaurant serving international cuisine, including Indian, Thai and Chinese food as well as pizza. The K-7 pizza restaurant and lounge he opened in January 2004 wouldn't be torn down, he said.

RPC Chairman Mark Kimball questioned if the project would fit on the 2.06-acre site, concerns echoed by other board members and the general public.

Gangadharan said he has five more acres where he could offer more parking. RPC member Carrick "Bat" Masterson suggested he use an acre between the existing bar and the hotel site for parking, a plan to which Gangadharan agreed.

Gangadharan said it would be an octagon-shaped hotel. Rooms would be located around a central courtyard. It would front on Gills Way to the north as well as Hafen Ranch Road. He outlined plans to build it in two phases, constructing the rooms first, which will be needed to obtain the unrestricted gaming license.

"The whole thing will look like a Taj Mahal if you walk into it," Gangadaharan said. "It's going to be high-end hotel rooms. I talked to people from Front Sight -- they want hotel rooms real bad."

Gangadharan also expects to draw business from Mountain Falls Golf Course, about a mile away. He said his bar business has been doing well, without a single complaint to the sheriff's department.

Bartender Sandra Hancock said Gangadharan recently remodeled the inside of the bar at a cost of $30,000. The hotel-casino project would bring jobs, she said.

Slot machine operator Lou Sposato said Gangadharan runs a first-class operation, building his business with sweat equity.

Kevin Smith, a resident of the Artesia subdivision about two miles south of K-7 pizza, said Gangadharan's bar and restaurant is needed in that area, where such businesses are "few and far between."

William Benthall, who said he would build the project, said he's known Gangadharan for 13 years and built his truss factory. Benthall added the project would create a lot of construction jobs. Rhonda Tartaglia also vouched for the jobs.

But neighbor Eileen Crawford, owner of K-9 Kastle Bed and Bone said most of the area is zoned village residential or neighborhood commercial. She said a minimum of 10 acres should be required for a hotel and casino.

Crawford also voiced concerns about the business being detrimental to her boarding business and dog training facility. She added Gangadharan doesn't have a paved parking lot for the bar and there's a school bus stop in front.

RPC Chairman Mark Kimball suggested Gangadharan pave Gills Way. Gangadharan said he had offered to buy Crawford's property.

"It's going to create noise. We've already had problems with barking dogs," Crawford said. But she added, "If everything was according to his plan and it (the parking lot) was paved, and he puts up a 10-foot-wall between my property and his property, that'd be fine."

Mark and Debra Bowman, 5550 S. Hafen Ranch Road, didn't think it was such a nice dream for the neighborhood.

"The site as undeveloped is unfair to the residents there," Mark Bowman said. "I feel the choice he has on land is way too small. It's undersized for the size of development he's got. I feel it will impact traffic, and there's several things we have to look at."

Bowman said he's concerned about his 10-year-old daughter attending Hafen Elementary School farther south.

Debra Bowman said the project could discourage families from moving into the neighborhood.

"I just think this is the wrong place. I think his idea is a good idea for the right place," she said.

Schinhofen said it would be a conforming zone change, going from neighborhood commercial to general commercial. While he said Pahrump needs more hotel rooms, Schinhofen said he was concerned about the acreage.

"Maybe it's not the best location for this casino, though I like what he's proposing. I like the idea of an Indian-style casino. It's something different in this community," RPC member Jacob Skinner said. "It would be more beneficial for him to build this near the economic center of town.

But he added, "I do foresee this area in the future developing as general commercial."

The RPC last December voted down a plan by A.C.E. Development Associates Inc. to rezone 1.7 acres from village residential to neighborhood commercial for a shopping center farther south, at 6531 S. Hafen Ranch Road, near the Artesia subdivision.