A developer wants to build townhomes on a parcel in Countryway, but neighbors say they're too close for comfort.
By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published December 4, 2005
COUNTRYWAY - Diana Sundstrom thought workers driving stakes into the ground 53 feet from her home was too close for comfort.
The stakes mark the spot where a developer hopes to rezone land and build a 154-unit upscale townhome community behind her neighborhood, the Forest.
"It's so darned depressing," she said. "They said they were going to give us a 53-foot buffer, but if you look at a 53-foot buffer, it's nothing."
Champions Forest Developers owns 184 acres on the northeast side of Old Memorial Highway at Countryway Boulevard. All but 30 of the acres are protected wetlands, which means the complex would have to go closer to the 17-home Forest neighborhood than residents would like.
The proposal goes before the zoning hearing master on Monday. Sundstrom said she expects at least 20 nearby homeowners to show up at the hearing and object. She said she and others have written letters to the county.
They are worried about how the complex will affect traffic and the environment. And they are worried about construction coming to their quiet neighborhood.
"I believe it's a typical reaction to oppose development in an adjacent property when people have lived in an area a long time and are used to nothing being there," said David Smith, a land use consultant representing Champions Forest. "I'm not surprised that they're concerned."
Smith said the development would have minimal impact on traffic. He is working with the developer to possibly arrange construction times at pleasing times for homeowners.
And, he said, there are no plans to touch the wetland area. Smith said the $4.4-million land sale was just a package deal.
"We have established our jurisdiction," Smith said. "That's going to remain undisturbed."
Still, Sundstrom is discouraged by new development popping up around her home.
"We've had this influx of development within a half a mile of our house," she said, citing a nearby apartment complex and a plan for 40 homes across the street. "It's just all happening at once. It's going to affect nature, it's going to affect pollution, it's going to affect traffic, noise."
Miguel Sanchez, who lives in the Lakes neighborhood on the back end of the 184 acres, plans to go to the hearing. New development has encouraged him to get involved, although he admits he never used to.
He thought, "because it was not right behind my house, it doesn't affect me," he said. "Well, guess what? It does. I'm beginning to see these huge monstrosity structures show up."
Ideally, Sundstrom and Sanchez would like to see nothing built on the parcel.
Smith said appreciates the neighbors' views, but "unfortunately it isn't fair to the property owner."
