In unincorporated Churchill County, a residential lot comes with costs that have nothing to do with the house. The county requires 1.12 acre-feet of water rights for each residential property, and the county agenda report cited underground water rights at $12,500 per acre-foot, which works out to $14,000 per lot. For lots that connect to county systems, water and sewer connection fees add $7,200 and $6,500. That comes to roughly $27,700 per connected lot, and none of it pays for the home itself.
That figure explains why Fallon's development headlines and its for-sale inventory don't line up. Hundreds of units have been approved, mapped or proposed. Few of them can reach a buyer soon, and the county's own commissioners have said these costs are part of the reason.
The Per-Lot Bill, Line by Line
Here is the base cost for a single new residential lot on county water and sewer, using the figures Churchill County has published in 2026:
| Item | Requirement | Cost per lot |
|---|---|---|
| Water rights dedication | 1.12 acre-feet at $12,500 per acre-foot | $14,000 |
| Water connection fee | Flat county fee | $7,200 |
| Sewer connection fee | Flat county fee | $6,500 |
| Total, excluding the house | $27,700 |
At the May 20, 2026 commissioners' meeting, the board said current water dedication requirements, hookup fees and permitting costs are slowing development and hurting county revenues, as The Fallon Post reported. The connection fees go toward infrastructure upgrades and expansions, so they pay for real capacity. They still land on every connected lot, whether it's a quarter acre or a full one.
That last point matters because the water rule applies the same figure to every lot. The county now wants to change exactly that.
The Rule the County Wants to Change
On August 6, 2026, Public Works and Planning Director Randy Hines told commissioners that staff had sent the Nevada Division of Water Resources a proposal based on a modified version of Truckee Meadows Water Authority Rule 7. Under that approach, the water requirement depends on lot size instead of applying one figure across the board. The county proposed a 25 percent buffer on top of that. "We're waiting for the state to respond back and have meetings with them," Hines said, according to The Fallon Post's August 13 coverage. He added that if the state is comfortable with a 10 percent buffer, staff will try to get the number lower.
The board approved no changes at that meeting. The county's October 1 and October 15 meeting summaries cover other business. So as this post goes live, the 1.12 acre-foot figure is still the one developers price into a lot. Any project currently being financed is being financed under the old math.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Water rights and fee schedules can change, so confirm your own property's requirements with the county, a water rights professional or an attorney.
What "Approved" Means on Casey Road
The Casey Road corridor north of town is where most of Fallon's planned housing sits. Each project there is at a different stage, and that stage decides when homes can actually appear.
| Project | Developer | Planned size | Stage as of latest report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sand Creek No. 2 | Casey Road LLC | 180 single-family lots in eight phases | Phase I final map, 25 lots, approved Oct. 1, 2026 |
| Silver Spur Village | Silver Sage Development LLC | 70 townhomes, hotel up to 137 rooms, commercial | Conceptual review, Sept. 2026 |
| Riverstone, off Coleman Road | Vertex Fund 3 LLC | 444 apartments | Final map approved Oct. 2025, valid until March 2027 |
Sand Creek No. 2 at 2685 Casey Road, north of Birch Lane, replaced the Old Stone Ranch north-unit proposal. That change cut the contemplated count from nearly 500 units to 180. The tentative map for all 180 lots was approved in November 2025. Almost a year later, on October 1, 2026, commissioners approved the Phase I final map, which lets 25 lots move forward, according to The Fallon Post. Building in phases is a normal way to spread out costs. It also means a 180-lot headline delivers inventory 25 lots at a time, with each phase carrying its own per-lot water and connection costs. In the 2025 planning review, the county had issued an intent-to-serve letter for water and sewer. Road-maintenance financing was still unresolved, and the plan called for a Casey Road turn lane.
Silver Spur Village covers nearly 16 acres just west of Walmart on Casey Road. County staff said water and sewer would use existing infrastructure already stubbed into the former Casey Road mobile-home-park parcel. Who pays for the traffic-related road improvements was still unsettled. A formal PUD application, more map review and permits are all still ahead, according to The Fallon Post's September 17 report.
Inside city limits, the City Council voted July 16, 2026 to extend the tentative map for the Saddlehorn Subdivision by one year, to July 19, 2027, while the subdivider keeps preparing a final map. An extension keeps a project alive. It does not approve it.
Riverstone and Its March 2027 Deadline
Riverstone shows what happens after approval more clearly than any other project here. On October 15, 2025, commissioners approved selling the 31-acre site north of Coleman Road to Vertex Fund 3 LLC for $600,000 and approved Riverstone's final subdivision map. That map stays valid until March 2027. Vertex representative Stephen Tuck said financing firms wanted the final map approved before they would consider funding, The Fallon Post reported.
The county also agreed to a one-time credit of up to $200,000 against impact and hookup fees. At the same time, it removed an earlier water-rate guarantee, so Riverstone would pay standard county water rates if it goes ahead. The county was willing to cover some of the fee burden. It wouldn't lock in water pricing. That October 2025 report is the most recent public account of the project, so for a buyer comparing towns, the 444 units are best treated as possible future supply.
One project did open its first homes this year. The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe opened the first phase of its 22-unit Sagebrush affordable-housing project at Tule Street and Paiute Drive on May 1, 2026.
The Resale Market Buyers Actually Face
Since new supply is arriving in phases, the existing-home market is where Fallon-area buyers are shopping. According to the Sierra Nevada REALTORS September 2026 market report, Churchill County in September 2026 showed:
- A median sales price of $445,000
- 15 closed sales
- 26 median days to contract
- 97.2% of list price received
- A median sold price of $237 per square foot
- 34 new listings and 58 active listings
- 3.9 months of inventory
The report shows the September 2026 median roughly 29% above September 2025, with closed sales down about 40% over the same stretch. The median price per square foot, meanwhile, was down about 1% year over year. When the median jumps but the price per square foot slips, the homes that sold that month were most likely larger, not more expensive per foot. With only 15 sales, a handful of bigger homes can move the median a lot. The report also combines three residential property types, so this isn't a single-family-only number.
The more useful numbers for a buyer are 3.9 months of supply, 26 days to contract and sellers getting 97.2% of list price. In September 2026, that pointed to a market with some room to negotiate, while new construction stays tied to water-rights math and phased approvals.
Quick Answers
Does the 1.12 acre-foot requirement apply inside Fallon city limits? The 1.12 acre-foot figure and the $7,200 and $6,500 connection fees come from Churchill County's 2026 discussions of county-served development, as reported by The Fallon Post. Saddlehorn, a project inside city limits, went before the Fallon City Council. For any address inside city limits, confirm the water requirements with the City of Fallon directly.
When could Sand Creek homes be available? Commissioners approved the Phase I final map, covering 25 lots, on October 1, 2026. The Fallon Post report covered that approval only and gave no construction timeline.
Would a lower water requirement change lot costs? The county asked for a lot-size-based standard because the current rule applies the same requirement to every lot. Until the state responds and commissioners vote, the $14,000 water-rights figure per lot stands.
If you're deciding between a new-build lot on Casey Road and a resale home in town, Faught Group can walk you through what each one really costs, from water rights and hookup fees to September's resale numbers, before you commit. Schedule a Meeting and bring the addresses you're considering.
