A new subdivision behind the Stonebrook subdivision, near Sherwood Forest Drive, will be moving toward construction in the near future. The Catoosa County Board of Commissioners recently agreed to rezone the 19.6 acres from the R1 single-family home designation to RTZ, which allows for single-family with zero lot lines, meaning the houses could extend all the way or nearly to the property line.
Rodney Waters, who purchased the property in December 2016, said the property will house between 50 and 60 homes, but he’s still a few months out from being able to break ground.
While the property had soil and erosion work done around 2007, he said, that work needs to redone. He expects the soil and water tests to be done in the next few months, and is working with engineers to figure out how to lay out roads and retention ponds to comply with current state standards.
“I’m trying to move as quickly as I can,” he said.
Waters also owns 10 other lots in Stonebrook which he’s planning on developing. Two of the lots broke ground late last month. Waters said he has no stake in the remaining lots in the subdivision.
These will be the first houses in a decade for the developer, who took a hiatus when the recession hit. Now that the housing market has rebounded, he said he sees getting back into real estate as a good business move.
Rock Ridge, the planned name for Waters’ new subdivision, will have a focus on energy efficiency, he said. He is researching tankless water heaters, LED lights and other energy-saving measures before ground gets broken on the property.
“I want to be able to save people on their electric and gas bill,” said Waters. “I’d rather spend a bit of extra money and be energy efficient. To me, that means more savings down the road.”
Waters plans the homes be builds in Rock Ridge and in Stonebrook to be similar in price and scope to surrounding homes – around the $135,000 to $150,000 range.
While he hasn’t presold any of his properties, he expects there to be interest from buyers.
“Every time I drive through there I see very young families and first-time home buyers, but then it jumps up to retired folks, like older people looking to downsize,” he said.
He thanked James Davis and the rest of the Catoosa Zoning Department, whom he said have been instrumental in making the process of preparing his property for development as simple as possible.