Vacaville Planners OK larger home pla

Vacaville Planners OK larger home plan

By Melissa Murphy/

Posted: 11/18/2009 01:02:16 AM PST

A housing developer will offer a larger home design in a new Vacaville subdivision, while it also makes plans to move its offices to the city.

Concord-based Meritage Homes is moving to Vacaville at the beginning of the year, according to Scott Kramer, a planner for the developer, and will occupy office space at the Nut Tree.

Meritage Homes is also building Sterling Chateau, unit five, a new subdivision that sits at the west side of Vanden Road, north of the Southtown development area and south of the existing Heritage Place neighborhood.

While other developments have requested smaller home plans, Planning Commissioners approved a new plan for a bigger home in the development.

They voted 6 to 0 in favor of a 2,279-square-foot, two-story home plan with three different exterior elevations.

Commissioner Frank Crim said he was pleased with the overall design of the plan and that it is consistent with the other home designs.

Planning Commissioner Dan Broadwater did not attend the meeting.

The new housing plan also includes a two-car garage, four bedrooms and a den.

The new plan will replace previously approved plans for 12 of the homes, to keep pace with the changing market, according to Fred Buderi, city project manager.

Kramer added that developers are starting to see the market come back and "wanted to add to the diversity of their two-story offering."

Meanwhile, a three-year time extension was granted to Southwest Crossing LLC and Miller-Song Group for the Southtown Commons Planned Development and design review.

Commissioners voted 6 to 0 in favor of the extension.

Although the extension will give the development until Oct. 16, 2012, to have a planned development and design review approved, the applicant Mike Rice said that if the market continues to gradually improve, he hopes they won't use all three years of the extension.

Commissioner Brett Johnson was pleased with the possibility the homes will be built sooner.

"I'm happy to hear this is possibly moving much quicker than anticipated," he said. "It's a unique product that is much more affordable."

The Southtown Commons project, at the east side of Leisure Town Road, south of New Alamo Creek Channel and east of the Southtown Development Area, was originally approved by the Planning Commission in 2005. It consists of 39 acres, which includes nine acres for 241 single family residential lots, a five-acre parcel for a self-storage facility and a 3.25-acre parcel for a detention basin/park.

A staff report explains that the project has been dependent on construction of major infrastructure improvement associated with the Southtown development west of Leisure Town Road, as well as the Southtown Commons project on the east side of the road.

Rice explained that the detention basin/park will be dual use, but is not big enough for sports activities, but mostly used for landscaping and walking along the path on the outer sides of the basin.