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Tag: Cobblestone Park

  • BW/Cobblestone lawsuit settled

    BLYTHEWOOD – When Lenore and James Zedosky moved from West Virginia to South Carolina, they didn’t envision spending nearly five years of their retirement locked in litigation with a national home builder.

    Now the lengthy legal battle has finally reached a conclusion.

    On March 14, the Zedoskys along with two other residents and DR Horton jointly agreed to settle the lawsuit in a dispute over green space, according to Richland County court records.

    Per the terms of the dismissal, each party will pay for their own legal costs. A $5,000 deposit is being returned to the plaintiffs as well.

    Lenore Zedosky said she is relieved the litigation has ended.

    “After five years, thousands of dollars and some health issues, we decided it was just time to end it,” she said. “We felt like we had a very good case. Our lawyer met with their lawyer and both came to a consensus that the case would be dismissed, so we were very pleased about that.”

    The legal battle began back in July 2017, when the Zedoskys and two other plaintiffs sued DR Horton and the Town of Blythewood.

    The suit asserted that covenants in place stated the properties would be adjacent either to a deeded nine-hole golf course or remain a perpetual greenway pursuant.

    DR Horton acquired the property in 2012 with plans to subdivide it for future development in violation of the covenants, according to the suit.

    Zedosky said as a result of the settlement, DR Horton has agreed to preserve the green space and not develop the contested property.

    A DR Horton representative couldn’t be reached for comment.

    In court filings, DR Horton denied claims in the homeowners’ suit. The home builder also filed a cross claim against the Town of Blythewood, saying the town wrongfully denied building permits for which DR Horton applied.

    According to court papers, DR Horton eventually consented to dismissing its cross claim against the town, but the town never agreed to the dismissal.

    Blythewood Town Manager Carroll Williamson said the town didn’t consent because it wanted a definitive ruling to eliminate any ambiguity on permitting issues.

    The town wanted “clear legal guidelines for how to treat the property for permits going forward,” Williamson said. “Because of this, we did not agree to a dismissal without a ruling on the merits.”

    Meantime, the Zedoskys and other co-plaintiffs said DR Horton’s plans would have a material adverse effect on their rights including, but not limited to, a devaluation of the value of their properties and a significant disruption of their quiet enjoyment of their property that would result from the loss of the property as green space or as a golf course.

    The suit claims Horton sought permission from the town to subdivide the property.

    “Horton has failed to obtain the written consent of the majority of owners affected by Horton’s intended change in the use of the property which is subject to the Greenway Covenant,” the suit states.

    Now that the suit is dismissed and resolved, Zedosky said the process illustrates that it is possible to prevail in planning or zoning disputes.

    “We now want to work with the town to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Zedosky said. “We’re hugely relieved. If you work with your elected officials and are professional about what you’re asking for, you can impact what happens at the local level.”

  • SC Women’s Open returns to Cobblestone Aug. 12-15

    BLYTHEWOOD – The South Carolina Women’s Open is set to return to Cobblestone Park Golf Course in Blythewood in just two short weeks, Aug. 12 – 15.

    The four-day tournament kicks off with the Pro-am on Aug. 12. Open to men and women, the teams will be comprised of four amateurs and one professional. The cost is $150 per amateur or $600 per team.

    The morning will begin with an 11 a.m. LPGA clinic, followed by a boxed lunch and the pro-am tournament at 1 p.m. There will be on-course prizes, beverages, a silent auction and an awards ceremony and music by Keith Burns, founding member of the Grammy-nominated ACM & AMA award-winning, platinum-selling group Trick Pony.

    The Womens SC Golf Association’s Senior Professional and Amateur tournament will be Aug. 13-14, and the Open Professional and Amateur Tournament will be Aug 13-15.

    The tournament will shift its focus off of golf on Aug. 13 for a Friday night concert at the Palmetto Citizens Amphitheater in Doko Meadows Park. The free event will feature Keith Burns of Trick Pony. Robbie Cockrell and Mason Horne will open for Burns.  Gates will open at 6 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. VIP Meet and Greet tickets are available at $50.

    For more information on the four-day event or to register for the Pro-Am, visit www.southcarolinawomensopen.com.

  • Council pulls plug on clear cutting

    BLYTHEWOOD – After months of discussion and angst over what the town attorney said is a loophole in the Town’s landscape and tree preservation ordinance, council voted 5-0 last week to amend the ordinance by repealing Section 155.390 (H). That section exempted certain projects from landscaping yard requirements that allowed developer D.R. Horton to clear cut a number of residential lots in the Cobblestone Park neighborhood.

    While citizens in Cobblestone applaud the removal of Sec. (H), developers have rallied to keep it.

    “If, as a municipality, you start changing ordinances on a whim, investors, businesses and developers will lose faith and interest in this market for fear the rules will be changed on them during their projects,” D.R. Horton representative Jessie Bray said.

    Mayor J. Michael Ross, who lives in Cobblestone and whose property abuts some of the lots that were clear cut, said citizens in Blythewood don’t want clear cutting in their neighborhoods

    “You say if we do this, developers won’t come,” Ross said. “I’ll bet every one of these people sitting here tonight could care less if another developer came here. We don’t want that kind of development.”

    Cobblestone resident Lenora Zedowski agreed.

    “Developers come and go,” Zedowski said.  “We are the permanent residents of Blythewood. Please repeal section (H).”

    Council and residents say section (H), which was adopted in 2015, is an unintended loophole in the ordinance that allows developers to clear cut lots. The Planning Commission, however, agreed with the developers and voted to recommend Council not delete Section (H).

    Section (H) states that those projects are exempt ‘which have received major subdivision or site plan approval prior to the effective date of this subchapter and amended major subdivision and site plans.’

  • Town Hall meeting to address traffic circle

    BLYTHEWOOD  –  Blythewood Town Council has scheduled a town hall meeting concerning a traffic circle proposed for Blythewood Road to be constructed through the Richland Penny Tax program. Controversy has picked up over the proposed traffic circle that would impact the Blythewood Road entrances to Cobblestone Park, Palmetto Citizens Bank, the Food Lion shopping complex and two properties owned by Blythewood businessman Larry Sharpe.

    “Council is going to be discussing the circle and proposing some solutions to possible traffic problems associated with the circle, and we hope residents will attend the meeting and provide their input,” Mayor J. Michael Ross said.

    The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 24, at 6 p.m. at the Manor. For more information, call Town Hall at 754-0501.

  • Fighting for Green Space

    Cobblestone Residents Look to P.C. for Help

    BLYTHEWOOD (Sept. 8, 2016) – After discovering in July that Cobblestone Park developer D.R. Horton is planning to build six new roads and 74 more homes in what residents thought would remain green space around their homes in the Primrose section of Cobblestone, Lenora Zedosky and about 30 of her Primrose neighbors appeared before the Town’s Planning Commission to protest the development, saying, “We were told (by the developer) that the green space would always be there.”

    Zedosky and her neighbors appeared again at Tuesday evening’s Planning Commission meeting to report that four days after their July protest, D.R. Horton upped the ante, displaying in the Cobblestone Clubhouse an entirely different road/housing plan for the Primrose section that included two more roads and 10 more new homes.

    “In this new plan, the backs of homes would face Primrose, which is the primary entrance into our neighborhood,” Zedosky said. “To our knowledge, the new plan has not been presented to Council, but is already being marketed. That’s a great concern to us. It’s an entirely different plan than was approved by you in October 2014.

    “We are not trying to stop all development,” Zedosky continued. “We just want a buffer and no clear cutting, which has been the habit we’ve seen so far.”

    Commission Chairman Buddy Price asked Town Administrator Gary Parker to confirm that the developer cannot move forward with the proposed construction until it comes before the Planning Commission for approval.

    Parker agreed.

    “We had a meeting with the developer about a week ago and saw the new proposal, but there’s a ways to go,” Parker reassured Zedosky.

    Following the meeting, Michael Criss, the Town’s Planning Consultant, reviewed for The Voice the steps the developer will need to complete in order to progress to the construction and sales stages of the project.

    “After the developer brings a sketch plan to the Town Administrator, he will then send it to the Planning Commission for a preliminary plat approval,” Criss said.

    “That’s a full civil engineering plan – roads, street drainage, water, sewer, as well as other infrastructure,” Criss said. “At that point, if the plan is approved by the Commission, work can begin on the infrastructure (grading, pipes in the ground, sidewalks, paving, etc.) When this work is finished, the developer will bring a final plat to the Commission for approval. When that’s approved, they can start selling.”

    Asked if the Commission had the authority to outright turn down the plan because of the residents’ objections, Criss said any approval or disapproval must follow zoning regulations spelled out in Chapter 153 of the Town’s zoning ordinances.

    “The developer has already been given the authority to build so many homes, so the Commission can make some suggestions for the plan, but there is just so much land available to build on. We have to be fair with how the houses and streets are arranged to accommodate what has been approved,” Parker said.

    Franklin Elected Chairman

    In other business, the Commission members unanimously elected Commissioner Bryan Franklin as Chairman. Buddy Price said he was stepping down from the Planning Commission after six years to give someone else an opportunity to serve.

     

  • Zoning Map Gets First OK

    Cobblestone Makeover Clears P.C. Hurdle

    BLYTHEWOOD – After a promised meeting with residents of Cobblestone Park last month, developer D.R. Horton brought a proposed zoning map amendment for the neighborhood before the Planning Commission on Monday evening that was unanimously approved and recommended to Town Council for approval. The matter will go before Town Council for first reading on Oct. 28.

    The proposed zoning map amendment calls for a revision of the existing University Club/Cobblestone Park Planned Unit Development (PUD) that will reduce the total number of allowable residences from 1,250 to 1,142, converting some areas that had been slated for multi-family units into single-family unit developments. Near the front of the neighborhood, as well as in the middle, some tracts are currently zoned for 24 units per acre and would have included apartments, Horton representative Ben Stevens said. Instead, Stevens said Horton plans to build no more than 10 town home units per acre in those sections, limiting to 112 the number of multifamily units that can be built.

    “This will make for a less dense, more attractive look overall for the neighborhood,” Stevens added. The original zoning for Cobblestone Park was approved in 2003.

    In addition, Stevens requested that 2.4 acres of property where the tennis courts are located be rezoned to R-4 for a model home court featuring five higher-end model homes that would be adequately screened with landscaping. Stevens said the tennis courts are in bad shape and that the model homes court would improve the parcel.

    While some Cobblestone Park property, including the entrance, is assigned to a Town Center zoning district, the approved amendment would fold all the neighborhood property into the new PUD zoning district.

    The zoning amendment process has brought emotional responses from residents in the neighborhood, including members of the Town Council and Planning Commission who reside in Cobblestone, some of whom control the vote on whether to approve Horton’s request for the zoning amendment. Three of the five members of Town Council and three of the seven members of the Planning Commission live in Cobblestone.

    On Monday night, Town Councilman Tom Utroska addressed the Commission during public comment time, saying he was speaking as a Cobblestone Park resident, not as a Councilman. He said the meeting between the residents and Horton representatives on Sept. 29 was generally contentious.

    While he thanked Horton for meeting with the residents, Utroska found fault with the size of the drawings Horton presented for the residents to examine and said residents were worried that a proposed model home court might depress home values in the neighborhood. He also complained that residents had too short of a notice for the meeting, but noted there was a good turnout with about 60 residents attending.

    “It’s up to the Commission to decide if there will be an open public hearing about the zoning change and about the addendum to the PUD,” Utroska told the Commissioners.

    Later in the meeting, the Town’s planning consultant, Michael Criss, said it is the Council who is charged with conducting zoning map amendment public hearings.

    “Under state law, Council can delegate public hearings to the Commission,” Criss said, “but so far Council has chosen to hold those zoning map amendment hearings themselves.”

    First reading will be held at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting on Oct. 28.