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HEHOME F N O N 7 B14 THE w` L SEE'J0UR.'4,1,I,FRIDAY, NOVE-, 53
<br /> New Communities Make It Easy Being Green .
<br /> By Sr�err Felsts forests,mountain lions,eagles and other species.
<br /> Staff Reporter of THE w.., TSIS Jot;avu. "IResidentsl must understand the risks and the joys and
<br /> the possibilities of living in a wildlife habitat—and definitely
<br /> have their eyes open,"says Jeffrey Froke,president of the
<br /> GRAYSI AlCE,ILL Santa Lucia Conservancy and a onetime park ranger.
<br /> THE EGRETS COME RIGHT UP THERE,"Carol Sonnenschein says,gestur- On Dewees Island near Charleston, S.C.,654.of the
<br /> in toward the prairie ses and sedges that roll into the lake a few feet 1,uses re island is held in permanent rnuyers must s
<br /> g p grdS g Houses can't exceed 5.000 square feet,and buyers
<br /> from her porch. Off to the right, she points to where red-winged blackbirds analyze the topography, solar orientation, prevailing
<br /> winds,soil and tree stands before building.Residents zip
<br /> blanketed a marsh in summer. Geese use the wetlands as a flyway, she notes around unpaved roads in electric golf carts.Lots fetch 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 x800.000.
<br /> Yl g ��� / While eco-friendliness boosts construe
<br /> Contrary to this bucolic picture, ,/ : tion costs, it also cuts long-term expenses.
<br /> y though, Ms. Sonnenschein's home .0 �. �. "when you don't build all these golf courses
<br /> isn't some rural retreat but a new community t and don't have all these manicured land-
<br /> under construction in the increasingly — w ` scapes 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 / nance costs, says John L. Knott Jr., chief
<br /> community is known,the environment is king. l 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 trillion-dollar lots at a where 989.of 6,800 acres will remain unde-
<br /> California ranch set in a nature preserve to , veloped,changed its land use plans from 35
<br /> * an"open-space subdivision"outside Philadel 1 lots of about 160 acres to 14 lots of about 500
<br /> phia where homes on half-acre tracts start acres. While the number of sites dropped,
<br /> around 5200 000 �, .' overall revenue increased,with lot sales av-
<br /> While environmentally correct communi- f . eraging$4.1 million.Farmview,a clustered-
<br /> ties aren't new—think Walden—only recently
<br /> ---u housing development with 200 acres of pro-
<br /> have they become a bona fide market. The tested farmland in Bucks County,Pa.,has
<br /> reasons:growing disillusionment with sabo outsold conventional subdivision-style
<br /> t
<br /> mes that otter larger lots.
<br /> ban sprawl and a willingness to pay a pre- • ho
<br /> mium to live in a place that protects the land. In other words,people will sacrifice peF
<br /> "This is not a philanthropic project.It's a sonal space for protected land they share
<br /> business venture,"says George A.Ranney j with neighbors. In a survey last year by
<br /> Jr., the president of Prairie Crossing's de- American Lives Inc.of San Francisco,7896
<br /> velopment company."It will have social out- of 800 consumers who bought or shopped in
<br /> comes we 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
<br /> "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 Igt-df
<br /> Calling itself a "conservation commu- rrwe space,"says 36 yearoid Bob Flanary,the ex
<br /> nity,"Prairie Crossing plans to develop just organic-
<br /> meat wholesaler,who with wife Lisa,
<br /> one-fifth of its 667 acres. When completed, 33,moved from Worthington,Ohio,to a four
<br /> all 317 single-family homes,priced from around$200,000 bedroom house in Prairie Crossing.
<br /> to 5400,000,will have long views.The test of the property Eoo-Developments "We can wean people away from the idea that they
<br /> is devoted to farmland, organic gardens, a nature pre Same environmentally sensitive home projects: need a large lot when they want to be in the country,"
<br /> serve and community space.The Washington-based Con says Randall Arendt of the Natural Land Trust.a land
<br /> servation Fund holds an easement that will keep 150 acres ■EAGLE ROCS(RESERVE:Where:Bozeman,Mont; conservancy in Media, Pa. "Ultimately, if they have a
<br /> in farm use forever. Sin:800 acre;Price:39 lots from$150,000-5200,000 large lot,there's no country left."
<br /> More than 100 prospective buyers visit Prairie Cross- each;houses from 5300.0004750,000 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 E FARMV EIM:Where:Low Makefiekt Township'Pa., West.remain addicted to miniestates of fenced-in proper
<br /> architects, a former organic-meat wholesaler and Ms. Sin:330 homes on 500 acres;Price:Homes for ties with big lawns and long driveways."The major mar-
<br /> Sonnenschein,a Loyola University sociologist whose dis- $250,000-5500,000 keting tool used by developers here is own your own little
<br /> serration concerned growth on Chicago's urban fringe. E PRESERVE AT HUff LAKE;Whom Attawa,Wis.; Piece of heaven," says Michael Scott of the Wilde Hess
<br /> R3
<br /> The 19thtentury-farmhouse-style homes are linked by 10 She;285 acres;price 41 lots,580,000$130,000: Society in Bozeman,Mont."What we tend to see is more
<br /> miles of crushed-limestone trails,not sidewalks.Residents homes 5500,000-S1 million caofd d while single-acre m projects development."
<br /> can receive a basket of organic produce weekly or grow their And while some projects spring from principle,more
<br /> own. Yards must be landscaped only with native plants. ■SPRING ISLAND:Where:Near Hilton Head,S.C.;Size: often than not they're spawned by legal battles.Prairie
<br /> Storm water drains naturally,not through pipes. 500 homes an 3.000 acres;Price:Average lot,$280,000 Crossing's land was purchased by a group of wealthy
<br /> "Where you have peer presstue,particularly on the East Soutar Dneftowit=Ma r farm LAW nWama families in 1987 after a 15-year tight 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 /> pressure 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 ecodevelopments 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 x70 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:Not all devel-
<br /> At 800-acre Eagle Rock Reserve outside Bozeman, with houses.the owners intend to develop just 109c 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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