MARK WAITE / PVT Front Sight consultant Dennis Bradley, at right, points while he gives a tour last month of the shooting ranges inside Spanish-style facades to Nye County officials, from left, Commissioner Butch Borasky, planner Steve Osborne, building inspector Dick Johnson, Nye County Manager Rick Osborne, consultant Al Balloqui and Commissioner Fely Quitevis. MARK WAITE / PVT Dick Johnson, manager of building safety and code compliance, Nye County manager Rick Osborne and Front Sight consultant Dennis Bradley overlook the rappelling center at Front Sight. Advertisement

Attorney Doug Malan argued the Front Sight Firearms Academy was in an isolated location, the middle of a doughnut hole surrounded by U.S. Bureau of Land Mangement property, in arguing for relief from impact fees before the Nye County Commission Tuesday.

Malan angled for a settlement that day on a 15-year development agreement for a timeshare condominium and hotel project. Commissioner Butch Borasky wanted to see a final written agreement.

Commissioners agreed to table the agreement until the July 7 meeting in Tonopah. When it was originally proposed about 10 years ago, Front Sight was going to include 177 one-acre town sites around the firearms training institute for gun enthusiasts, like homes built around a golf course.

The developer, Front Sight Management Inc., now wants to build 2,066 timeshare condominium units, a 400-room hotel, 279 recreational vehicle spaces, 40 one-acre home sites, a shopping area and clubhouse. A world class rappelling center has been added at the site.

Malan said Front Sight will pay full impact fees for the Nye County Sheriff's Office and Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue Service. The company will also pay for whatever the traffic control study and drainage study recommends, he said.

Sheriff Tony DeMeo was nevertheless upset afterwards that company officials didn't respond to his request for input in a Sept. 29, 2008 letter.

"The least you could have done is a little bit of courtesy and discussed this," DeMeo angrily told Front Sight representatives outside the Bob Ruud Community Center.

Front Sight will have a self-contained security force, but Nye County Planning Director Jack Lohman said they can't arrest anybody.

In the letter DeMeo estimated an impact fee of $150 for each rooftop, including RV spaces and hotel rooms, would bring in $315,900 to his department.

The county disagrees with the developers' statement the project site is remote and won't impact Nye County. Malan offered to strike that sentence if necessary in what was described as a philosophical difference.

"There will be impacts on roads, people will be shopping in Pahrump," Lohman said. "I don't think people are going to go there, sit there and never leave to go to town and use the facilities."

Malan said, "I don't view that as a bad thing, they're here spending money."

The county does appear willing to strike a provision requiring the payment of park impact fees for all but the 40 single-family home lots.

"It's primarily a project that has been designed around adult interests, and I just can't see people vacationing at a site like this with their families," said Commissioner Joni Eastley, a strong advocate for the project. "I don't think the clientele are going to be leaving that site and going to look for a swing set or a ball field."

Planner Steve Osborne said the county's attorney on development agreements, Mark White, had a problem with a clause only requiring off-site improvements on county land.

Malan said, "Since we're the doughnut hole inside the BLM doughnut, we wouldn't want to have a county requirement to do something inside BLM land the BLM might not allow us to do."

Dick Johnson, manager of building safety and code compliance, said Front Sight took out a building permit in 2004 which expired and they would have to apply for a new one. Johnson said the buildings, including the electrical work, have never been inspected and there's no certificate of occupancy.

Malan said the company agrees to pay sales and use tax in Nye County by accepting delivery of construction materials at Front Sight whenever possible. That's a provision similar to the 20-year development agreement with Corrections Corporation of America.

Nye County Chief Civil Deputy District Attorney Ron Kent wanted Malan to clarify ownership issues on the record. That followed news Front Sight's assets were placed in receivership for a week to solve a federal court case concerning payment of $8 million to First Family members.

Malan said Front Sight is a California corporation in good standing in California and as of June 12 is in good standing in Nevada. It has a good marketing plan and continues to issue memberships, he said. It's not in receivership, Malan said.

"It's all in the public record and I'm frankly kind of put off by it," Malan said, sounding a little miffed.

Last week 478 people attended classes at Front Sight, he said, another 460 gun enthusiasts are registered this week. Memberships continue to double every year, Malan said.

"We haven't asked the county for anything, not a penny. We just ask you to recognize us for what we are, get a development agreement in place. When the economy comes back and money becomes available to borrow, we're ready to go," Malan said.