Reviving Riverdale: Energy expert envisions 'net-zero carbon footprint community' along Finley River

Van Hoesen, an energy-efficiency consultant who owns US Green Building LLC, has drawn up a development plan that would resurrect the once-thriving Christian County milling town as a subdivision the likes of which are hard to come by in the Ozarks. And he wants to use Riverdale’s defining attribute – a small hydroelectric dam on the Finley River – to offset the community’s energy usage.

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The low-impact development calls for 351 homes on 262 sloping acres situated along the river’s eastern bank just south of Nixa. More than half of the land – about 147 acres – would be preserved as open space, including two small lakes and constructed wetlands.

Design restrictions dictating insulation, window placement, HVAC systems and orientation of the homes would guarantee minimal energy consumption, Van Hoesen said. And under a new net-metering law approved by legislators, hydroelectric power generated by the dam would be fed back into the grid.

Streets connecting the unconventional homes could be laid with asphalt made from recycled

roof shingles. A vegetated bio-swale drainage system would guide storm water runoff to the river basin, he added.

The plan also calls for an on-site wastewater facility that would return treated effluent to the earth via a drip-irrigation system, but Van Hoesen said a Christian County moratorium on wastewater plants would have to be lifted or an exception granted.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle, though, is that no one has agreed to buy the land and pay for the infrastructure. Van Hoesen said two local physicians who had initially planned to finance the project “got cold feet” late last year. He’s been looking for their replacements ever since.

“I’ve been talking to a local family who has the means to do this if they desire,” Van Hoesen said. “This (property) is such a valuable asset. It becomes a stepping stone to getting these kinds of developments all throughout the Ozarks.”

Well-suited site

Van Hoesen said the history, topography and natural beauty of the land is a perfect fit for his oasis of green living.

But the property still belongs to Brad Kelley, a former tobacco tycoon who owns nearly 800,000 acres in the United States, according to The Land Report, a monthly magazine that listed him as the country’s seventh-largest landowner last August.

Van Hoesen said Kelley is asking $14,000 to $16,000 an acre but that he’s negotiated the price down to just below $11,000 an acre. The two previous investors were each responsible for $125,000 upfront, Van Hoesen said, and a bank had agreed to finance 100 percent of the land acquisition with a $2.7 million loan.

Van Hoesen said infrastructure for the development’s first three phases would cost about $3 million, based on bids from various suppliers and contractors. He said 150 lots in those initial phases would then be sold between $45,000 and $125,000, depending on size and location. Van Hoesen estimated that the project’s financiers would begin to recoup their investment after the first 80 lots were sold.

Van Hoesen has divided the project into 10 phases. His design calls for six miles of walking trails and a land trust that would perpetually preserve green space along the riverbank – an idea that’s been well received by James River Basin Partnership and Ozark Greenways.

Holly Neill, executive director of James River Basin Partnership, said riverfront land trusts and conservation easements are relatively rare in Missouri. She was only aware of one other effort by the Nature Conservancy along the Current River.

While the rate of return for Riverdale’s investors may not be as high as that for a traditional residential development, Van Hoesen said the project’s financial backers stand to make millions during the 10-phase project. He suggested there’s also a notoriety factor if the development achieves a net-zero carbon footprint, which Van Hoesen is confident it will.

“Can we do it? Yes, we can,” he said. “I’m going to blame this (skepticism) on the status quo. Developers until now have made way too much money on what they’ve always done.”

Pulling for the project

Many local environmentalists and green-building advocates know Van Hoesen, and they are hopeful his vision for Riverdale will come to fruition.

David Casaletto, executive director of Ozarks Clean Water Co., is among those interested in the project. Ozarks Clean Water Co. is a not-for-profit, member-owned company – similar to an electric cooperative – that provides wastewater treatment services for residential developments primarily in Taney and Stone counties.

Casaletto said the company contracts with local environmental firms to operate and maintain small wastewater treatment systems and charges members a flat monthly fee of $30. Casaletto is hopeful that Christian County officials will relax the moratorium to allow for the drip-irrigation system Van Hoesen has proposed for Riverdale.

“Why not designate a project as a test site, put in the controls and even bond it so that if it fails, you can put in another type of system?” he suggested. “George’s plan is really neat for the whole green concept.”

Stuart Murr, a custom home designer and owner of Smart Designs LLC, also is excited about Van Hoesen’s effort to develop a cluster of sustainable homes, which happen to be Murr’s specialty. Murr said the goal of a net-zero carbon footprint for Riverdale is attainable, but designing and building the subdivision’s low-impact homes won’t be inexpensive.

Keeping a tight rein on the design restrictions and quality of builders will likely be a challenge if the development moves forward, Murr said. But convincing investors to ante up amid a sluggish economy is perhaps the biggest hurdle, he added.

“I think that it has potential to be a really fantastic project,” Murr said. “But it’s going to be a little bit of a hard sell, in my opinion, (considering) the housing market the way it is right now.”

Van Hoesen knows the market conditions could be better, but he’s not deterred.

“They’re not going to just let their money sit,” he said of potential investors. “They’re going to invest in something.”