In other business,
members also voted unanimously to continue a public hearing to its next
meeting on a proposed amendment to the planned unit development ordinance
governing Easton Park--or what used to be known as Sand Creek Farms--located
east of 250E at the eastern terminus of East Porter Ave.
Seven years ago, in
2008, the commission granted the PUD primary plat approval. Then, a few
months later, the global economic meltdown put something of a dent into real
estate development, and the owner of the acreage, Eric Gastevich of Olson
Farms LLC, opted to back-burner the project.
Now, however, he’s
ready once again to put a shovel in the dirt but is keen on making a number
of changes--most of them minor enough--to the PUD. Those changes include
reducing the density of the subdivision from 362 homes to 346, by
eliminating some lots; and shifting the main east/west road on the north
side of the subdivision--what is essentially an extension of East Porter
Ave.--slightly to the south, so as to avoid encroaching on a wetland.
Those were the
chief issues on the table on Thursday when planners opened a public hearing
on the proposed PUD amendment. No one spoke in favor of the amendment. One
person had questions, Barbara Bolesh, who lives in the Village on the Green
at Coffee Creek Center.
Bolesch expressed
an interest in seeing drawings of Easton Park and wondered how far east of
250E it extended.
Gastevich’s
attorney, Todd Leeth, summarized the boundaries of the project this way:
south from the Norfolk South railroad right-of-way approximately 1,800 feet,
and east from C.R. 250E about a quarter of a mile. As for drawings, Leeth
said that he would be happy to provide a copy to Bolesch.
In the end,
Gastevich and Leeth weren’t quite ready to proceed to a vote on the amended
PUD, having not quite collected all of the necessary documentation, so asked
the planners to continue the public hearing to their next meeting. The
planners voted unanimously to do so and unanimously as well to close the
public comment portion of the hearing.
The commission did
signal its willingness, at the next meeting, to hold a preliminary hearing
on primary plat approval for Easton Park.
Brassie Estates
Meanwhile, members
voted unanimously to grant secondary plat approval to Phase I of the 100-lot
Brassie Estates subdivision--located immediately north of the Brassie Golf
Course--contingent on the town’s receipt of the appropriate performance
bonds.
Phase I is
comprised of 16 lots, eight on either side of a central roadway running
parallel to, and accessed from, Pearson Road.
Secondary plat
approval clears the developer, Schilling Development, to begin the
construction of homes in Phase I only. Primary plat approval--which cleared
the developer to install infrastructure in Phase I--was granted to Schilling
in November 2014.