It appears that there is life yet for a large housing development proposed for Southern Inyo County in spite of the economic downturn.

In 2005 three developers planned to build 50-60,000 homes on a barren stretch of land near Pahrump, NV. Known as Charleston View, for nearby Mt. Charleston, the land is actually in Inyo County and if fully developed could become the most populated area of Inyo County.

Water is always an issue in the Eastern Sierra, and is a bigger issue in the fringes of Death Valley. Developers drilled to 1540 feet looking for water, but came up empty and the project appeared finished.

In recent weeks, interim planning director, and at the time also interim public works director, Doug Wilson received a phone call from a developer indicating that the developer wanted to revive the project. If this project does move ahead, homes for a population of 40,000 could be built, Wilson told the Inyo Supervisors this week.

Wilson said that there were few details given during the conversation, just that the developer had resolved a number of outstanding issues and was ready to start the conversations to get the project moving again.

How the water issue would be solved was not stated at this early stage in the process. Wilson says that he just wanted to give the supervisors a heads up that the county had been contacted. Whether this development can actually happen or not, remains to be seen, Wilson told the board.

The plan is to have the developer set a meeting date with county staff, once the county hires a new planning director.