River Cities Business Journal: Real Estate

KINGMAN - Pravada's specific zoning plan's superiority to the county's land ordinances was not the only topic that raised questions during the Feb. 13, County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

Commissioner J.B. Wise raised questions about the possibility of manufactured homes being used in the development.

Rhodes Homes Executive Vice President Chris Stephens explained that the company was looking at the possibility of using factory-built homes on some of the sites within Pravada.

These homes were not what most people would consider a typical manufactured home. The development agreement actually prohibits what most people would call a mobile home.

The company is looking at factory-built homes in order to control the quality of homes that are built in the community. The homes would be built on a site inside of Pravada. The homes would be built to the same building codes as the rest of the homes in the county.

The language was in the document in order to meet state law, which states that any home not built directly on site is a manufactured home. Stephens said the State Office of Manufactured Housing would be inspecting the buildings in the factory.

Later in the meeting, County P&Z Director Christine Ballard agreed with Stephens, saying that the county would only inspect the utility connections to the homes.

Water concerns

Water was another major topic of discussion during the meeting. Commissioner Joe Bibich asked how often Rhodes would have to get its adequate water analysis renewed by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Ballard said each time Rhodes started a new subdivision plat within the project it would have to go before ADWR.

Bibich asked what would happen if the development ran out of water. A person can't drink a water report, he said. What happens if the mines start using much more water?

Stephens said Rhodes Homes was required to take into account any lots, subdivisions, mines and commercial lots in the area no matter if there was a building on the site or not.

It was in the development agreement that ADWR could adjust the amount of water available to the project any time it found it necessary and Rhodes would have to adjust the number of homes accordingly.

Greg Wallace, the hydrologist for Rhodes Homes said, according to ADWR, 31,750 acre feet each year for 100 years could be extracted from the aquifer without water levels dropping below the 1,200-feet minimum set by ADWR.

"There's a 150 years worth of build-out in Golden Valley, depending how fast the market goes," Wallace said.

Wise pointed out that the area was in the middle of a long-term drought, and wanted to know whether that had been taken into consideration when the company had calculated how much water was available.

Wallace said it had, along with a possible future increase in demand for water from the aquifer from the city of Kingman and the mines. He also pointed out that Pravada would likely use less water than either Bullhead City or Kingman due to water conservation measures and the use of effluent.

Wise pointed out that Laughlin Ranch, which had also promised to use effluent, was nearly 50 percent complete and was still using groundwater.

Dunton gives Rhodes support

The commission was in for another surprise when local developer Scott Dunton spoke out in favor of the project during the meeting.

Dunton told the commission that he had met with Jim Rhodes and the two had reached a settlement on a more than three-year-old lawsuit.

Rhodes had also agreed to purchase the city's well sites for around $400,000 and sell the city other well sites in return.

He also agreed to build Sacramento and Centennial roads as the county highways they were currently listed as and pull a roundabout from Aztec Road. Rhodes also agreed, Dunton said, to concentrate on Pravada first and not go after other sources of water in other basins.

The commission needed to be the moral compass for the county, Dunton said. And he said that it was time to make peace and give Rhodes a second chance to prove himself.

Abbot pointed out that Dunton had had problems with Rhodes in the past. The lawsuit was over a spoiled land deal. What made Dunton think that this time was different.

Dunton said this was the first time he was treated with respect by Rhodes, and he would not have agreed to the deal if he thought Rhodes wasn't going to hold up his end.

Support from residents

Local resident Don Van Brunt also threw his support behind Rhodes. Van Brunt had originally asked the county to make Sacramento, Centennial and Aztec roads county highways and had originally opposed the Pravada-specific zoning plan because he felt that the three roads would be changed.

With the new agreement between Rhodes and Dunton, Van Brunt reconsidered and now supports Pravada.

A number of other residents in the audience spoke out in support of Pravada.

Local Realtor Donna Crouse stated that it was time to stop thinking of Pravada as a large subdivision and start thinking of it as a small city.

Golden Valley Realtor Bernard Rowbottom said the county was fortunate to get such a nice development.

Pravada was something that could meet the needs and wants of the residents in Golden Valley.

It would attract jobs, increase the quality of life and increase the amount of tax revenue.

Resident Dave Coffin said he was tired of hearing negative comments about Pravada. The area was going down, Pravada would have a positive effect on the area.

He compared Jim Rhodes to the character Lighting McQueen from the Disney movie "Cars."

In the movie, McQueen is a hotshot racecar on his way to a show-down competition. He finds himself stuck in a small town after getting lost and accidentally damages some property. While he works to repair the damage, McQueen learns about friendship and restores the town's self-esteem.