A public hearing was presented by the Mineral County Regional Planning Commission in Hawthorne, Walker Lake and at the Mina Care and Share, regarding the amendments of Title 17: Zoning of the Mineral County Codes. The commission presented the changes on an overhead, providing all proposed adjustments and highlighted rewrites with explanations regarding the endeavor.

Mark Nixon, spokesman for the group, explained that this has been a two-year process of dissecting the policies, which have not been changed since 1965. Presently these public hearings are at the stage of development allowing the public to respond with comments, concerns and changes.

Nixon said, “Should a community or business or anyone feel something needs to be altered, based upon what’s been revised, or they want a situation of zoning reviewed, this needs to happen now. These changes are being publically addressed to encourage dialogue about the current needs of this county and our housing, businesses, set-backs and even new terms of housing. We are in need of adjusted ordinances and classifications that meet today’s trends. We’ve studied this and compared our documents with other places, so this has not been an overnight decision.”

Alternate housing terms such as “THOW”, which are Tiny Houses on Wheels, a popular type of living as seen on television shows, is now being added to the zoning documentation. There are also areas in the county originally zoned as “ranchettes” offering residents the opportunity to maintain corrals and some smaller livestock.

If anyone is interested in reading through the current outline, you may obtain a copy at the clerk’s office. The Regional Planning Committee is asking for the public’s involvement, should any concerns or questions arise.

Overall changes were to simplify the explanations, making Title 17 a more workable document. The county infrastructure involves every segment of ground as stated by mapping and legal rights. This title also is a working document, which addresses home-based businesses, conditional use permits and signs.

Mineral County Commissioner Paul MacBeth agreed that these changes needed to take place and a more uniformed and organized paper trail must be implemented.