June 28th Update - Much progress!
Dear All:
These past few weeks have been very fulfilling with the many successes we have encountered. Here are some of the highlights:
- The land is getting greener and healthier every day
- Martha, Stephanie and Brad have designed and are building a Mock-Up section of our quality home materials in the front of our offices at 58 South Main St.
- More people have made land deposits
- More people have been working with lenders to pre-approve for their home mortgage
- Martha and Lisa have completed floor plans and elevations for nine of ten home designs, and those designs have been submitted to the MSV consultants for review
- Our subdivision approval process is getting more refined. We expect to receive Preliminary Subdivision Approval before July 9th.
Brad & Stephanie show off the CV building materials to be used in the mock up
View to West short range
View to West long range
The organic transition for the farm is going well, with a bountiful crop of oats and alfalfa growing greener and taller everyday. We tested the silos this week, and came away with some amazing photographs of Cypress Villages land to share with you. Note the image labeled "View to West short range" gives a good idea of the distance to the airport runway, and "View to West long range" shows our proximity to Maharishi Vedic City.
The Preliminary Site Plan we had presented to the Jefferson County Supervisors contained a flaw we had not caught before: there is a Clear Zone in the North West corner that we can only farm or raise short sheep on (ha!). It is a relatively small area, and is intended to allow small planes to approach the grass East-West runway when necessary. We do not consider this significant for our subdivision. It will not affect our infrastructure or common buildings. We have accommodated this Clear Zone by simply removing homes from that planned area and changing the planned usage to agriculture.
A plan to expand the East-West runway was presented to the Supervisors by the Fairfield Airport Committee, dated June 8, 2007. This plan would take land from the Northern section of our property, but again, would not affect our infrastructure or common buildings. In order to allow time for everyone to understand the impact of this plan, we have decided to re-submit our Preliminary Site Plan as per the attached file.
The good news is that we have increased the amount of land we have in Permanent Agriculture and Organic crops. We do have to consider that the City of Fairfield may someday use Eminent Domain to purchase land, homes and buildings to extend the East-West runway, and this could impact our future quality of life. However, there is a lot of regional opposition: if done as per the June 8 plan, the approach and landings would go over Maharishi Vedic City, and neighboring farmers would lose part of their land and some agricultural buildings.
In order for the extension to come to pass on the Cypress Villages land, the Airport would have to demonstrate a strong need. In recent years, the activity at the airport has decreased, and last year the daily average of planes taking off or landing was 2.71 per day. With the price of fuel going up, the decrease in the price of bandwidth, and the rising trend of digital commuting allowing real-time video conferencing with colleagues and loved ones, many pundits expect there to be little need for Fairfield to expand beyond the tremendous North-South runway capacity it now has. Also, there are alternative locations to the option to expand over Cypress Villages property.
Our favorite E-W alternate is to use the existing closed highway at 170th Street. In the end, any future expansion would come down to where the least expensive location is for the Airport to expand, and, do they really need to.
Lastly, we are reminded that we need to spend time with our future neighbors and governing officials to explain the many benefits that the Cypress Villages can have for Jefferson County and all the cities therein. Cypress Villages will most undoubtedly become a LEED Certified Neighborhood...a nationally recognized standard for truly sustainable development. Construction activities will generate local jobs, and the multiplier effect will buoy every business in the area. Some people will relocate within the County, but many new people are planning to relocate to Fairfield, and bring financial strength, families and world expertise to our rural family.
Thank you for being part of the coming Cypress Villages community. We look forward to working together to build a model community for the nation. Our presentations will continue through July each Saturday at 2 PM at 58 South Main in Fairfield. You can also reach us by telephone and email.