CONSERVATION SUBDIVISIONS
GOOD FOR THE LAND, GOOD FOR THE POCKETBOOK
By Steve Wright
“We build in stages, starting in front of the parcel and working our way back, organically controlled by the land. This means we don’t have big up front prices and don’t have to sell houses quick, quick, quick in order to get out from under the financing,” Eve Noonan said of the advantages of Conservation Subdivisions to developers’ bottom lines. “We’ve also discovered our square foot price, because we build so incredibly well, sells much higher per square foot than conventional or traditional building.”
Noonan said the biggest hurdle for a would-be Conservation Subdivision developer is an outdated, conventional set of city or county regulations that stipulate minimum lot sizes, minimum road widths and utility requirements that could prevent the goal of preserving land while clustering houses.
“By doing these clustered settlements, we don’t have to do the infrastructure for the whole 170 acres, which saves money,’’ Eve Noonan said. We had to get special permission to build our roads more narrow than code allowed. With narrow roads, drivers slow down, kids feel safe riding bikes and the fire trucks can always turn around using part of the farmland off the paved surface. We also had to fight the city to be allowed to do Constructed Wastewater Wetlands sewage treatment on site, instead of running miles of city sanitary lines.”
TOMORROW: LAND CHOICES
Wright frequently writes about smart growth and sustainable communities. He and his wife live in a restored historic home in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana. Contact him at: stevewright64@yahoo.com
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