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COMMENTARY
As
has been widely reported, BLM now has a successful bidder on
that 1,940 acre parcel to the west of Sun City. For those who
are not quite sure just where that parcel is located, it lies
entirely south of Volunteer and abuts Sun City on the west.
You can see a map of that parcel by clicking here:
Map
John Ritter [pictured below], Chief
Operating Officer of Focus Property Group, a consortium of
seven home builders, unveiled their proposed master-plan
development under a "New Urbanism" design before Henderson
City and Planning Commission officials this past week. City
officials were understandably impressed with the presentation.
What was really impressive according to the LVRJ article,
however, were the density figures. If my calculations are
correct, Focus will house twice as many family homes
(up to 14,000) on their 1,940 acres as we will have on almost
twice the acreage here at Sun City. I think that comes out to
just under four times the number of homes per acre located to
the west compared to the number of homes per acre in Sun City
Anthem. And, least we not forget, on top of the high-density
ratio of the number of homes per acre, there will be an even
higher density in terms of the number of cars moving about
that Focus community, given the simple fact that the
development will not only be family friendly, but will be
younger-family friendly to attract prospective first-time
homebuyers to purchase their lower-priced, very high-density
units. To achieve an overall density of up to 7.2
housing units per acre, that density figure will, of
necessity, have to leap significantly higher in the
community's heartland if, as they claim, they will have lower
density homes at the edges of the development comparable to
what is found at Summerlin or Anthem, according to John
Ritter.
"We're
land-locked"
But, what will be the transportation "cure" for Sun City?
Apparently we are right on top of the issue. Our own Favil
West spoke with the LVRJ reporter [see
LVRJ Article] at this inaugural public unveiling and
was quoted as saying that "We're land-locked" here in Sun
City, describing the utter seriousness of our future traffic
plight--with no place to go for those 12,000 youngsters
[younger family folks] who
will be living in Anthem Highlands and Provence. That is, no
place to go except down Sun City Anthem Drive or Anthem
Parkway to Eastern or out Volunteer. Now, as we understand
Favil's position, he said that he would like to see the
roadways to the west "get built right away."
Mr. West has even met with John Ritter of Focus Group and will
be meeting with him again in August.
Perhaps getting the roadways to the west "built right away"
will be our salvation in reducing what we anticipate will be
unacceptable traffic congestion. Then again, with a potential
of 14,000 family homes and 30-40,000 people all looking to
enter and exit their community on a daily, if not on a twice
daily or more basis, it's just not that clear how inviting Maryland
Parkway (1-2 miles due west) will be to our Anthem neighbors
to the south. Favil, it would would appear, is banking on
getting the westward-heading roadway system "built right away"
for resolving Sun City's traffic problems and bringing us some
measure of salvation.
Are we then to conclude that if the "built right away" option
is unsuccessful, or even if it is successful but fails to
produce the desired (or promised) result, the community is up
the proverbial creek in traffic congestion? It almost sounds
as if failure is a real possibility, and that there are no
options either under consideration or available--there is no "Plan B" in
the offering.
But let's not be too pessimistic. Our Anthem neighbors to the
south may, in fact, jump at the chance to take that 1-2 mile
westward trip to go north or north-east to Henderson. Then
again, as several members of the Planning Commission pondered
out loud when they reviewed Pulte's plans for Provence, our
southern neighbors may prefer to use (or continue to use) Sun
City Anthem Drive and Anthem Parkway--just as they would have
done had those homes been built for Sun City by Del Webb. To examine what's
involved in this roadway issue, you can view Henderson's
Master Streets & Highlands Plan for west Henderson by clicking
here. Highway Plan
[The Highway Plan map was augmented to also
show the location of Sun City, Del Webb/Pulte's "Provence" and
the approximate location of the parcel purchased by the Focus
Property Group.]
While we wish Mr. West and all good luck in their upcoming
meeting with Mr. Ritter, one wonders whether Mr. West might
better profit by meeting with Liza Conroy or her boss,
Henderson City Attorney Shauna Hughes. According to Ms.
Conroy, in public testimony before the Planning Commission,
the City has what she alleged was a binding agreement with
Pulte Homes to advance on their own the construction of the
westward roadway system, whether or not Pulte was the
successful bidder on the 1,940 acre project. The ball, it
would seem, is in the hands of the City and Pulte, assuming
that what Ms. Conroy told the Planning Commission accurately
reflected their agreement with Pulte and Pulte's commitment to
advance the construction of westward roadway system--all
[signed?] and agreed to before the results of the BLM auction
were known.
Additional commentary on this pressing and community-wide
matter of serious concern is welcome. You may send your
comments to me directly at
rljohnson32@cox.net,
or to The SCA View by clicking here:
SEND AN
E-MAIL, or by
completing the information requested on this web site's
Contact page: Contact.
Ron Johnson
7-18-2004
John Ritter pictured holding up
his
bid number on his company's
successful
bid of $557 million for the
1,940 acre parcel.
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