Chagrin Valley Times on Sterling Lakes & The Pointe

The Chagrin Valley Times has this informative take on the same Road & Safety Committee meeting Pepper Pike City Council had last week that was highlighted in the Chagrin Solon Sun item I posted here earlier today.

Again, the prime issues revolve around:

-what to do with partially developed land,
-for which the developer has a builder, but
-for which, in this economy, so little is certain, and
-Pepper Pike residents, who've already invested in a particular vision at a much higher investment than would be the norm in the developer's amended plan, are not supportive in the least of the proposed changes and
-the expectation that the increased number of much less expensive units (originally plan has units range from $360,000 to $450,000, amended plan's range is $220,000 to $300,000, with the same minimum square footage size being maintained) sounds dubious (which is why I've pressed for market data, as noted in the CVT piece, which is what is holding up Sterling Lakes' presentation at this point, as we wait for them to get that information for us),
-and seems out of joint with everything that the development is supposed to be, was projected to be and that fits in with the City's vision of what it wanted, and the residents wanted, for this property.

"Difficult decision" doesn't seem to cut it at all.

2 comments:

sn said...

Dear Council Member Jill,

I came across your blog after conducting research on the Pointe / Townes of Pepper Pike at Sterling Lake being built by Pulte as a prospective home-buyer.

Reading related articles on CVT; I am now unsure if I should buy a town-home in this community or not, considering that the plans are continually changing.

So what is your advice to a working professional (early 30's) who prefers to reside closer to work (Beachwood) and finds the 200k - 300k affordable especially for a new construction?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

Sean

Jill said...

Dear Sean,

Thanks for reading.

I am absolutely not in the business of giving advice about real estate purchases, having only made two in my own life (one in Pepper Pike of course!).

Although this is a bit of a dodge to your question, it's based on the fact that I've only been on Council since January 2010 while five of my six colleagues have been on for a minimum of 10 years and the sixth was on the planning and zoning committee through most of the years that the Pointe/Townes has been in development. I actually believe he would be one of the best suited to respond to your question.

I have only participated in changing the plans once, and that set of changes is what has cleared the way for the current phase of development in the Pointe/Townes. So, I would not describe the situation as one in which "the plans are continually changing" - but I can imagine how partial the information may seem if someone is searching online and trying to put information together.

You can find contact information for all the elected officials as well as the City department heads and others (including building department, law director, and so on) at the very bottom of this page:

http://www.pepperpike.org/Contact

Thanks again and let me know if there is more information I can offer (and I'll always let you know when I can't!).

Jill