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Tag: DR Horton

  • 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.’

  • Blythewood Council tables bond extension

    BLYTHEWOOD – After approving a three-month extension in November on the Holly Bluffs surety bond at the request of developer DR Horton for storm water work, Horton came back to Council on Dec. 19 requesting an additional six-month extension so it could make additional repairs to the storm water facilities (inlet/catch basin) at the same intersection – the corner of Bumble Bee Court and Summers Trace.

    In a letter to Town Hall, Brian Hallman, Land Development Project Manager for DR Horton, stated that the developer had been on track to complete all necessary repairs within the first three-month extension but that other work is now required.

    “Since then, we have learned that Richland County wants us to redesign the intersection of Summers Trace and Bumble Bee Court,” Hallman wrote. “There is an issue with the original design that is causing the intersection to hold water during rain events. We are currently working with our engineers and the county to come up with a design solution to fix this problem.”

    Hallman told Town Hall that he didn’t believe Horton could complete the work by the end of January and asked for an additional six-month extension.

    “We certainly want to see the work completed,” Town Administrator Gary Parker told Council, “and there is no harm to us in extending the time. We will either have to grant another extension of the surety bond or collect the bond amount.”

    However, Michael Criss, the Town’s Planning Consultant, said he would favor another three months instead of six months to help press the developer to finish the project.

    As it turned out, when DR Horton came to the council meeting on Dec. 19, Council discovered that Horton’s paper work was lacking in details about the work to be performed and tabled the item until the next town council meeting which is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2018, at 7 p.m., at Doko Manor.