STEELE
CREEK NEWS
Upscale Development Planned on Lake Wylie
(December 30, 2002)
In 1990 Crescent Resources had plans to build 3,600 residences on an
1,800-acre parcel of land along Shopton Road West and east of Lake Wylie.
The development, known at the time as Island Pointe, never
materialized.
Now Crescent plans
something totally different for the parcel. Instead of 3600 homes,
they plan only about 400 homes in three sections.
The largest
section comprises 1300 acres on the western portion of the area
along Lake Wylie. They plan to have 184 single family estates on
lots ranging from 2.2 to 12.6 acres. The section has 7 miles of Lake
Wylie shoreline, and 43 of the lots will have waterfront. These will
be custom homes on mostly gated lots and may not be visible from the
street.
The lots will be
connected to CMUD water but have septic tanks for sewer.
Crescent plans to
clear as few trees as necessary to build the houses and septic
tanks. Homes will be at least 200 feet back from the lake shoreline
(three times the 50 feet currently required) and have a high country
style architecture -- or "elegant rusticity."
They plan the
streets to have ditches rather than curbs and gutters. This is not
allowed by the current R-12PUD zoning, and Crescent plans to apply
for conditional MX-1 zoning.
The streets will
be public and not gated. The streets will have 7 miles of public,
hard surfaced trails that meander around trees. The development will
have an additional 20 miles of biking and walking trails running
through green space.
This section also
will contain a community area, with a lodge, pool, tennis courts, 10
boat slips, and other amenities for use by homeowners.
The second section
contains 204 acres and generally lies along the western side of
Shopton Road West, just south of the bridge over Neal Branch. This
section will have smaller lot sizes--with about 1 unit per acre.
They will have CMUD water and sewer.
The third section
lies east of Shopton Road West and contains 301 acres. Plans for
this area include a private, non-residential golf course and about
25 golf villas.
The only current
plans for area road improvements are to build turn lanes off of
Shopton Road West.
The plans for
low-density development are welcome in the community since the
development would have less impact on the traffic along the current
rural roads and on the water quality in the Lake Wylie watershed.
However, it would contribute to urban sprawl, which is something
area planners have been trying to avoid.
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