PAHRUMP (FOX5) —Nye County has launched a pilot program to remove illegal RVs in Pahrump using $35,000 in federal funding, with commissioners voting 4-1 to approve the initiative last month.
The county has identified roughly 50 illegal RVs around Pahrump, according to Commissioner Ian Bayne. The Nye County Sheriff’s Department is inspecting the vehicles for littering, illegal activity and other conditions that make them unsuitable for living.
“I’ve been told by the Sheriff that one particular RV that we towed the other day had been there possibly 10 years,” Bayne said.
Long-standing problem targets abandoned property
Bayne said the illegal RV issue has persisted for years, with many units becoming what he calls “junk trailers and junk RVs” that are unsafe and often parked illegally on other people’s land.
“This is a problem that’s been going on for a very, very long time,” Bayne said.
The commissioner said property owners often buy land in Pahrump and abandon it, paying minimal property taxes while forgetting about their holdings.
“So what happens is people buy land here in Pahrump and then they kind of forget about it. So they pay $100 in a property tax a year or something like that. Some of them haven’t seen them for decades,” Bayne said.
Fire and medical emergencies strain resources
Beyond property disputes, local officials cite public safety concerns as homeless encampments and RV sites experience repeated fires and medical emergencies that strain local resources.
“A lot of the times it comes on my radar because there’s a fire that happens there, which of course is dangerous since we have maybe a dozen firemen at any given time on duty and we don’t have a lot of law enforcement,” Bayne said.
The Pahrump Fire Chief reports fire activity at homeless camps occurs four to five times per week. These incidents can require 12 to 14 firefighters, nearly the entire department, pulling personnel away from other calls.
Bayne said many RV occupants have outstanding warrants and choose Nye County because it doesn’t extradite.
“Yeah, when we get a lot of, oftentimes we get a call from someone who’s in one of these RVs and they have warrants from somewhere. So a lot of people are hiding out from the law and they come to Nye County because they don’t extradite,” he said.
Legal process targets dangerous vehicles
Bayne stressed the county doesn’t want to evict people from functional homes. The focus is removing diseased, dangerous and destroyed vehicles through a legal process.
“If you parked your car in the middle of the street, same exact process. It goes through to the DMV…” Bayne said.
The commissioner said Pahrump faces additional challenges with homeless individuals, as the town lacks shelters or specialized medical centers. Serious cases often require ambulances to transport people to Las Vegas for care.
The pilot program uses federal funds from the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund rather than local tax revenue.
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