Cottonwood Shores housing development moves forward with agreement
Artist renderings of the Lennar Homes planned for 25 lots in Cottonwood Shores. Courtesy photo
Lennar Homes is two steps closer to a housing development in Cottonwood Shores. The nation’s second-largest homebuilder is constructing houses on 25 lots in the city of Cottonwood Shores and has control over another 35 homesites.
Lennar Homes purchased seven building permits the same week that the Cottonwood City Council approved an agreement to allow the homebuilder to put in water and sewer lines. Installation must be done before foundations are laid.
The council voted on the agreement at its regular meeting March 18.
“We’re allowing them to put utilities in our easement, and we’ll be overseeing the installation,” City Administrator J.C. Hughes said. “We’ll do the inspection, and utilities will be donated back to the city.“
The lines on Birch and Driftwood lanes will be funded 100 percent by the developer, Hughes said.
“This is part of the Lennar Homes initiative,” he said. “They themselves are extending water and sewer to 25 lots to develop those lots at their expense. The lots are currently not serviced by our water and sewer.”
The agreement also includes three new fire hydrants.
Hughes noted it’s not unusual for developers to pay these expenses.
“It’s the first time this developer has come to town,” he said. “They’re willing to put up the infrastructure to get it done. We have a lot of lots without water and sewer. It really shouldn’t be on the backs of taxpayers to develop those lots for them.”
To Hughes, this falls in line with the city’s commitment to spend $1.4 million to replace water lines in “underserved areas.”
“(Lennar Homes) is putting in major investment in Cottonwood Shores,” he said, “which shows us these developers are interested in investing in Cottonwood Shores.”
In other action at the March 18 meeting, the council was told that Waste Management will begin distributing recycling carts to residents April 1-2. Right now, larger units “are being overused by (people) outside of the community, and it’s costing our taxpayers quite a lot of money,” Hughes said. “It’s been overly expensive.”
Also, Hughes was approved as the point man for developing a database of volunteers to assist the city on various projects, committees, and other needs. Interested individuals can email him at city.admin@cottonwoodshores.org to be listed on the database.