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HE HOME FRONT, BIl4 `" 1'
<br /> ' STREET JOURNAL FRIDAY,NOVEMBER 10, tr►a_
<br /> Bem* g Green
<br /> New Communities Make It Easy
<br /> — forests,mountain lions,eagles and other species.
<br /> By STEFAN FATSIS "IResidentsl must understand the risks and the joys and
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<br /> Staff Reporter of Txa WALL sraczr Jovnvwt the possibilities of living in a wildlife habitat—and definitely
<br /> GRAYSLAKE,ILL have their eyes open."says Jeffrey Froke,president of the
<br /> Santa Lucia Conservancy and a onetime park ranger.
<br /> HE EGRE'T'S COME RIGHT UP THERE,"Carol Sonnensehein says,gestur- On Dewees Island near Charleston, S.C., 6517.of the
<br /> 1200-acre island is held in permanent cotservat3ed-
<br /> ing toward the prairie grasses and sedges that roll into the lake a few feet Houses can't exceed 5,000 square feet,and buyers must
<br /> Tfrom her porch. Off to the right, she points to where red-winged blackbirds analyze the topography, solar orientation, prevailing
<br /> a . blanketed a marsh in summer. Geese use the wetlands as a fl around soil ane tree stands before building.cart.Residents zip
<br /> sway, she notes around unpaved roads in electric It carts.Lots feti:►n up
<br /> proudly,and at night coyotes can be to$475.000,and 11 homes are up so far,the
<br /> heard baying at the moon. priciest for SW,000.
<br /> Contrary to this bucolic icture, While eco-friendliness boosts construe-
<br /> p t tion costs,it also cuts long-term expenses.
<br /> Z though, Ms. Sonnenschein's home .,/ "When you don't build all these golf course$
<br /> isn't some rural retreat but a new community 1 and don't have all these manicured land-
<br /> under construction in the increasingly \ . stapes and don't have all these paved roads,
<br /> crowded suburbs north of Chicago.The reason you end up with enormous reductions in in-
<br /> for the unspoiled views of native flora and / frastructure investment"and lower mainte-
<br /> fauna is simple: In Prairie Crossing, as the / nonce costs, says John L Knott the chip
<br /> community is known,the environment is king. il\ / executive of Island Preserve Partnership,
<br /> Across the country,a growing number of the Dewees Island developer.
<br /> residential communities are seeking to bal- It pays in other ways,too.The develop•
<br /> ance development and conservation. The ~"��' ^ ers of Wildcat Ranch near Aspen, Colo.,
<br /> market ranges from million-dollar lots at a where 9890 of 6,800 acres will remain undo-
<br /> California ranch set in a nature preserve to -c , veloped,changed its land-use plans from 35
<br /> an'open-space subdivision"outside Philadel lots of about 160 acres to 14 tots of about 500
<br /> `? phia where homes on half acre tracts start acres. While the number of sites dropped,
<br /> around$200,000. �. overall revenue increased,with lot sales av-
<br /> While environmentally correct communi- . eraging$4.1 million.Farmview,a clustered-
<br /> 10 ties aren't new—think Walden—only recently housing development with 200 acres of pro-
<br /> have they become a bona fide market. The tented farmland in Bucks County,Pa.,ha$
<br /> reasons:growing disillusionment with subur _ outsold conventional subdivision-style
<br /> ban sprawl and a willingness to pay a pre- • homes that offer larger lots.
<br /> mium to live in a place that protects the land. In other words,people will sacrifice per-
<br /> "This is not a philanthropic project.It's a sonal space for protected land they share
<br /> business venture,"says George A. Ramey ,,d with neighbors. In a survey last year by
<br /> Jr., the president of Prairie Crossing's de- American Lives Inc.of San Francisco,78%
<br /> cveROpmWnt company.
<br /> o "It will have social out- . of 800 consumers who bought or shopped in
<br /> es a hope will be noteworthy and affect planned communities cited"lots of natural,
<br /> public policy and business practice.We hope =` open space"as essential or very important:
<br /> other builders will say, 'Someone else has "Our lot size isn't big,but when you look at
<br /> done it,let's get into the market.'" the overall development,you've got a lot-df
<br /> Calling itself a "conservation commu- xaaa space."says 36-year-old Bob Flanary,the ex-
<br /> nity,"Prairie Crossing plans to develop just organic-meat wholesaler,who with wife Lisa,
<br /> o ne-M of its 667 acres. When completed, 33,moved from Worthington,Ohio,to a tour-
<br /> all 317 single-family homes,priced from around$200,000
<br /> bedroom house in prairie Crossing.
<br /> to$M,000,will have long views.The rest of the property Eco-Developments "We can wean people away from the idea that they
<br /> is devoted to farmland,organic gardens, a nature pre- need a large lot when they want to be in the country,"
<br /> serve and community space.The Washington-based Con- Some environmentally sensitive home projects: says Randall Arendt of the Natural Land Trust, a land
<br /> servation Fund holds an easement that will keep 150 acres ■EAGLE RM RESERVE Where:Bozeman,Mont.; conservancy in Media, Pa. "Ultimately, if they have a
<br /> in farm use forever. Size:800 acres;Price:39 lots from$150,000-$200,000 large lot,there's no country left."
<br /> More than 100 prospective buyers visit Prairie Cross- each;houses from$300,000-$750,000 Still,the trend isn't spreading like prairie grass.Most
<br /> ing weekly.By year's end, 18 families will have settled developers, especially in high-end communities in the
<br /> in—including an agronomist, a biologist, two landscape a FARIAYRIM:Where:Lower Makefleld Township,Pa.;
<br /> ogle escape West,remain addicted to miniestates of fenced-in proper-
<br /> architects, a former organic-meat wholesaler and Ms. Size:330 homes on 500 acres;Pries:Homes for ties with big lawns and long driveways."The major mar-
<br /> Sonnenschein,a Loyola University sociologist whose dis- $250,000-$500,000 keting tool used by developers here is own your own little
<br /> sertation concerned growth on Chicago's urban fringe. a PRESENNE AT NUNTERS LAS Whom:Attawa,Wis.; piece of heaven," says Michael Scott of the Wilderness
<br /> The 19th-century-farmhouse-style homes are linked by 10 Size:285 acres;Price: 41 lots,$80,000•$130,000; Society in Bozeman,Mont."What we tend to see is more
<br /> miles of crushed-limestone trails,not sidewalks.Residents coolde-cutter,single-acre development."
<br /> can receive a basket of homes$500.000-$1 million
<br /> organic produce weekly or grow their And while some projects spring from principle,more
<br /> own. Yards must be landscaped only with native plants, ■SP11=ISLAND:Where:Near Hilton Head,S.C.;Stze: often than not they're spawned by legal battles.Prairie
<br /> Storm water drains naturally,not through pipes. 500 homes on 3,000 acres;Price:Average lot,5280,000 Crossing's land was purchased by a group of wealthy
<br /> "Where You have freer pressure.particularly on the East Sawaas An•bpn wmaw w~Land magnum families in 1987 after a 15-year fight over its develop-
<br /> Coast,to have the best lawn,here you're going to have peer ment.In Washington's pristine Methow Valley,environ-
<br /> pressur'e to be the most responsible homeowner," says mentalists and citizens persuaded developers to forsake
<br /> Michael Sands,Prairie Crossing's environmentalist. ters and other creatures were mapped and protected. a downhill-skiing center for a lower-impact cross-country
<br /> Not all eco-developments are as tightly focused as One of the biggest—and ritziest—eco-projects is Santa skiing and golf resort;1.5%of property sales will support
<br /> Prairie Crossing.But such principles separate those that Lucia Preserve near Carmel, Calif. The 32-square-mile an environmental center.
<br /> practice environmentalism from those that just use site was purchased by a group of investors for S70 million That's the sort of deal today's new-breed environmen-
<br /> Mother Nature as a marketing tool. in 1990. Rather than inundate the old cattle ranchland talists are happy to make.The philosophy:Plot all devel-
<br /> At 800-acre Eagle Rock Reserve outside Bozeman, with houses,the owners intend to develop just 1090 of the opment is bad,and influencing development beats stand-
<br /> Mont., homes are banned from ridge tops and elk property—about 300 moderately clustered homes,a small ing idly by while the bulldozers roll.
<br /> ranges. At Rocking K Ranch next to Saguaro National hotel,a low-impact golf"trail"and a village center. "You can't save it all,"says Patrick F.Noonan,chair-
<br /> Park near Tucson. Ariz., a nonprofit environmental Lot prices will start at $1 million and should climb man of the Conservation Fund,which holds the Prairie
<br /> group monitors development. On Spring Island near quickly. The remaining land, scarred by 200 years of Crossing easement."You can't stop growth.You have to.
<br /> Hilton Head,S.C.,the habitats of eagles,quail,river ot- overgrazing,will be set aside as a preserve of redwood understand it and work with it."
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