Data centers banned in Pahrump

Data centers banned in Pahrump August 19, 2026 - 5:40 pm The Nye County Commission voted Tuesday to prohibit information centers in the Pahrump Valley and Basin 162. The decision followed a committee hearing that attracted hundreds of participants and featured more than two hours of public comment, despite a two‑minute limit per speaker. Teresa Redl urged the commissioners, saying, “What I suggest is, you each ballot to prohibition information centers, outright, today,” Teresa Redl told the commissioners. “Everyone I cognize is perfectly frantic — we are each losing our minds. It’s been truly unsmooth connected everybody here. You guys tin extremity this contiguous by voting to ban.” Three agenda items concerning information centers were merged into a single discussion: the outright ban, a possible special determination allowing voters to decide whether to enforce it, and a proposal to set a national proceeding on a measure establishing regulations. Opinions varied on each point, but overall, astur attendees made it wide they supported an implicit prohibition. Susie Hertz warned, “If you bash ban, I uncertainty determination volition beryllium an uprising of radical who favour information centers, to the grade that you are seeing those of america who say, ‘No,’” Susie Hertz asserted. Commissioner Ian Bayne explained that he would amend the proposed prohibition so it applies only to the Pahrump Valley and Basin 162, the Pahrump Valley groundwater basin, leaving the rest of the county unaffected. Commissioner Bruce Jabbour added that he would support limiting the ban to Pahrump, noting that other communities in the region might welcome information‑center development. Bayne then moved to adopt Nye County Bill No. 2026‑11, which amends Nye County Code Title 17 to prohibit information‑center development in the Pahrump Valley. The motion passed unanimously, 5‑0. Commissioner John Koenig subsequently moved to set a national proceeding for Nye County Bill No. 2026‑14, a measure that would amend Title 17 by establishing land‑use regulations, special‑use permitting requirements and development standards for information centers throughout the remainder of the county. That motion passed 4‑1. No action was taken on the proposal for a special election, and the item was ultimately dropped.