Attorneys pursue rural atmosphere for southeast subdivision

When Springfield attorneys John and Nancy Price started looking for a new home to downsize from 5 wooded acres east of the James River, they didn’t set out to build a subdivision. But that’s what the owners of The Hill at Lone Pine are doing on an 11-acre patch of sloping timberland off South Lone Pine Avenue.

“We’re going for a very secluded feel for every one of the lots,” said John Price, an attorney with Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown PC, adding the couple purchased the property from developer Warren Davis in July 2014 for an undisclosed amount.

Davis, founder of Warren Davis Properties LLC, said the land was zoned agricultural and part of a 17-acre parcel he bought from John Q. Hammons around 2006. Price, as Davis’ lawyer, facilitated that acquisition.

A CVS Pharmacy store took up residence at the northwest corner of the Lone Pine Avenue and Battlefield Road four years later, but Davis’ plan to build a subdivision and personal residence north of the pharmacy never materialized. He said commercial projects – including the former Solo Cup factory, 1100 N. Glenstone Ave., purchased for $7.9 million in 2010 – were priority.

“We’ve got a lot of big projects and that took second place,” Davis said.

“I think what they’re planning is a little bit nicer.”

While the Prices sold a roughly 1.75-acre piece to Willhoit Enterprises LLC owner Mike Willhoit, at 2829 S. Lone Pine Ave. abutting the northern boundary of The Hill, a 2-acre lot at the site’s southwest corner is reserved for them. The remaining seven lots, ranging from 1 to 1.5 acres, are priced between $210,000 and $250,000.

Greene County Assessor’s Office Commercial Appraiser Monte Ray said the 1.78-acre northern parcel and the subdivision site had an assessed value of $33,900 and $55,100, respectively, in 2015.

“It probably would have been more profitable to do smaller lots, but that’s not what we wanted,” said private practice attorney Nancy Price, who declined to disclose the couple’s investment in the project. “We’re hoping to preserve as much of the natural wooded beauty as we can.”

Codes and zones
John Price said maintaining arboreal features and cutting traffic noise from nearby Battlefield Road required construction of a berm and retaining walls, and proved a challenge in meeting city code for street grade. The developers had to amend plans before the city’s Development Review Office approved them in April.

Local companies working on the project include subdivision engineer Heithaus Engineering & Associates Inc., landscape architect Frank Zanaboni of Zanaboni-Smith Design Studio LLC and general contractor Gary Herman of Herman Custom Critical Homes.

Warren Davis Properties started groundwork for the subdivision during construction of CVS. The Hill’s infrastructure will connect to nearby sewer and gas lines, plus a stormwater detention basin across Lone Pine.

“Part of the deal was that in order to get the corner there rezoned as commercial, the remainder of the property had to be single-family residential,” John Price said, noting Davis was approached over the years with proposals for multifamily housing and retirement communities, all of which would have required further zoning changes.

Brent Stevens, a principal with architecture firm H Design Group LLC, said similar changes proved an obstacle to the Tera Vera gated community for seniors under construction on 4 acres at Jefferson Avenue and Sunset Street.

Now zoned low-density residential, Stevens said the complex is designed for 30 units in single-story duplexes with private garages and a 1,000-square-foot clubhouse.

“We had to come up with a development that would help buffer the single family residential behind it. But being right there on Sunset, you can have a higher density,” Stevens said of the project, which broke ground last month and has a four- to five-month construction schedule. “It’s a good area of town – close to the greenway trail and centralized to the hospitals – but it’s low-key and really geared toward elderly living.”

Building out and moving in
Calling The Hill’s location prime land, Davis said he wasn’t aware of similar parcels available in Springfield proper.

“It’s getting pretty scarce inside the city limits,” Price said. “It just doesn’t exist.”

Some Springfield residents might prefer things stay that way.

Neighbors near a proposed gated community voiced opposition to the project – 83 apartments on 4 acres south of Kimbrough Avenue and Walnut Lawn Street – during an Oct. 26 City Council meeting. Despite dissent, council members Nov. 9 rezoned the property to make way for the multifamily development by Luke Warmwater Construction Inc.

While some city dwellers aren’t in favor of new residential developments, Mayor Bob Stephens said others in subdivisions just outside city limits want their land to be annexed.

Some subdivisions have consent annexation agreements that would make them part of the city without a council vote. For others, Stephens said state law mandates annexed land follow the existing boundaries.

Funding presents another complication. Adding land and residents means expanding the scope of city services and adding staff and equipment. With the city’s general fund already pulling in sales taxes from those who live outside of Springfield but spend dollars in the city, adding more land couldn’t increase the fund through additional property taxes.

“It’s not a simple ‘yes-no’ question,” Stephens said, noting Fire Chief David Hall and Police Chief Paul Williams are researching the additional resources their departments would need to adequately cover new territory.

“The question now is do we want to square up the city limits and bring in additional people,” Stephens added. “You have to go all the way around the city limits with that kind of question in mind.”

As for the Prices, Nancy Price said they don’t plan to undertake more projects. They’re targeting spring completion of landscaping and street work at The Hill in order for buyers to start construction in 2016.

“Unless we get the bug and decide we’re having so much fun we want to do this forever – we’re lawyers and we’re probably better off practicing law,” she said.