Olde Ivy development moving forward

Now that the final plat of Olde Ivy subdivision has been approved by City Council, de-veloper Michael Pulscher said there are "15 houses ready to go in the ground immediately."

He and partner Dave Pop-penga, a concrete contractor, have split 52 acres into 101 approximately half-acre lots bordering the Old Southern Hills subdivision and Living Memorial Park at 4405 S. Glenstone.

"It's a gorgeous project ... on beautiful wooded lots," Pul-scher said. He said the project will improve the city's appearance from the south, which is "our front door to Springfield." A large fountain will draw the eye to the entrance of Olde Ivy on Lakeside Drive, Pulscher said.

The plan includes ridding the area of part of an old trailer park, Timbercrest. "We've got plans for 50 condominiums to go in there," and an undetermined number of office condominiums. The development pro-cess for those structures is just starting, Pulscher said.

Tree-cutting at the site and blasting have been held to a minimum, he said. "We are keeping the environment as un-impacted as possible." None of the trees taken out will be burned; instead they will be offered as free firewood or wood chips for landscaping, Pulscher said.

Houses will start at $190,000, and none of those ready to be built will be less than 2,200 square feet, Pulscher said. Each home will be all-brick with a three-car garage.

Lot prices run from $39,000 to $79,000, but a variety of lot shapes and sizes is available. Several are nearly three-quarters of an acre, minus the space needed for streets and city services easements, Pulscher said.

Keeping the area natural is paramount to the developers, who have named the streets as a reflection of that intent Swed-ish Ivy, Olde Ivy Drive, English Ivy Avenue, Irish Ivy Place.

Great River Engineering de-signed the development, Pul-scher said, because "these guys are into nature."

Besides, Great River has "two of the most well-respected hy-drologists people that work with the stormwater who work there," Pulscher said.

The plans of the previous engineer split the land into 134 lots that left old sewer lagoons in place. That didn't work for Pulscher, so he hired Great River.

"We tried to engineer around the environment," said King Coltrin, PE, one of the three owners of Great River.

"The land itself is a very pretty piece of ground, nice rolling ground, with good contour to it that allows you to really create something secluded and ... pristine."

Water issue

The new plans, approved Jan. 14, call for installation of a lift station and a new sewer line for sewage disposal, so the lagoons can be drained and no longer pollute the James River and Lake Springfield, Pulscher said. A water de-tention area is designed to drain dry and will be a park area, like the one at the southwest corner of Grand Street and National Avenue.

No houses will be built on lagoon sites, Pulscher said. Instead, one site will be drained then covered by a cement street. The other, which is below the trailer park and abuts the Living Memorial, will be drained, covered with cement, then filled with dirt and landscaped as a common area.

Springfield Parks and Recreation Di-rector Dan Kinney is glad, from a safety standpoint, that the lagoons will be gone because the park is busy. The plan "also cleans up the environment and the odor," Kinney said.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources was delighted that the la-goons, which had been grandfathered in, would be gone, Pulscher said.

Kenneth Thompson, PhD, head of the geology department at Southwest Mis-souri State University, did an exhaustive geological study of the area, which borders on the Springfield Nature Center, and found it to be no more environmentally sensitive than any other area of town, Pulscher said.

The study was presented to council when neighbors complained that the area might be damaged by a sewer line.

The Planning and Zoning Commission and city Planning and Development staff approved of the plat, as did City Council.

Pulscher said he has spent a lot of time and has gone to a lot of trouble to protect the natural environment because he re-spects the land. The engineers intentionally drew designs around large, leafy trees.

Pulscher said he wants to keep the area green because he is building his own home in the development, as well as one for his mother. His partner also will build a house for himself in Olde Ivy.

"This project is not only going to be good for that area, but good for everybody that comes to the Nature Center" and the memorial, where Easter Sunday sunrise services are held, as well as events to honor veterans, he said.

"This project has been under a microscope like no other subdivision in this community," Pulscher said, and "it's an exciting project." The covenants and restrictions were written by an attorney with plenty of experience in that area Kendall McPhail, a lawyer with Lathrop & Gage LC. They "sailed through" the city attorney's office, he said, adding that, McPhail also plans to build in Olde Ivy.