Village downriver

July 11, 2005
Section: LOCAL NEWS - COVER, Page 1
Tristan Schweiger - Daily Times Staff Writer
Salisbury Daily Times

SALISBURY -- The 150-acre riverfront site Stephen Pusey and Walter Maizel are currently developing has been a lot of things in the past.

From the 17th century until the 1940s, the property on Riverside Drive west of Shad Point was a farm belonging to the White family.

Then from the 1940s until the 1980s, a commercial menhaden fleet utilized the site's access to the Wicomico River.

And when the menhaden fleet left, the property was briefly home to a clam fishing operation.

Now Pusey and Maizel are working to create a "green community" of 46 homes on that site, 13 of which will be true waterfront properties. The rest of the homes will have open-water views, Pusey said.

"We thought that the green community was a concept that the land sort of beckoned for É because of the natural features," Pusey said. "We thought that having high-rise condos and golf courses was not in keeping with that."

The project, called the Village Down River, will feature more than two miles of trails for hikers and bikes, a 50-slip marina and a community building -- created by renovating the old White farm house -- that will house a paid caretaker for the development. The caretaker will perform a range of duties, including picking up mail or cutting grass for residents who are out of town.

The development will use an on-site plant for its sanitation with a drip irrigation system, developers said, which is environmentally friendly and state-of-the-art.

"What's really important to us is that we restore it back to its natural setting," Maizel said.

Pusey's development company, Terra Firmma LLC, acquired the property from Salisbury attorney Victor Laws in May, although Pusey said plans for the site have been in the works for a couple years. Pusey and Maizel hope to begin work on the development's infrastructure sometime between September and November and have the first houses ready for sale by next spring.

Although the property has been completely cleaned up from its time as an industrial site, and both the Environmental Protection Agency and Maryland Department of the Environment have designated the property as needing no further action, Pusey said the developers are in a state voluntary cleanup program.

"What that means is that if anything should be found in the process (of construction), we voluntarily clean it up at our expense," he said.

The Village Down River is one of several new residential developments in the works along Riverside Drive in Salisbury, although the others are concentrated further up the Wicomico.

Area residents said they see the new projects as a good thing, although they did worry about its possible negative effects.

Gloria Wilson's husband, Earl, retired as manager of the menhaden fleet that once docked at the Village Down River site. She is concerned about a sudden influx of people.

"I know it's going to make more traffic by here," she said.

But Wilson said she was glad to see the site develop.

"It's a shame that something hasn't been put down there," she said.

Earl Filippelli, who lives further east of the proposed development, said he thinks the building is positive.

"I think it'll improve Riverside Drive," Filippelli said.

* Reach Tristan Schweiger at 410-845-4655 or tschweiger@salisbury.gannett.com.

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Project sets a good example:

Buyers, developers should emulate Village Down River

Undated Opinion Column
Section: Our View
Salisbury Daily Times

In the midst of an onslaught of residential projects around the Lower Shore, a true gem has come to light. Most projects seek to squeeze as many units (houses, condos or town houses) as allowed onto a tract, build them at the lowest possible cost and then sell them for top dollar. Many developers have an interest in the property only until the deal is closed. Impact on the community and project design in terms of the lifestyle of the residents are overlooked as much as possible.

But one riverfront site along Riverside Drive Extended is being developed in a radically different way. Village Down River, located west of Shad Point, will be a "great community" of 46 homes (instead of high-rise condos), 13 of which will be waterfront properties and the rest of which will have open-water views.

But that's not the unusual and desirable part. The rest of the land will eventually offer more than two miles of trails for hikers and bikers (instead of a golf course), a marina and a community building that will be a renovation of the old farm house where the former property owner's family lived.

And instead of 46 individual septic systems, a state-of-the-art, on-site sanitation plant with a drip irrigation system will make the whole project more environmentally sensitive. A caretaker will be house in the renovated farm house, too, to pick up mail for the residents, cut grass when homeowners are out of town and perform other duties.

The location is a former industrial site used by a menhaden fleet, but has been cleaned up and decleard in need of no further work by both the Environmental Protection Agency and Maryland Department of the Environment.

Unlike many other projects around the Shore, nearby residents are not complaining about the Village Down River, Terra Firmma, the company that is developing the site, could have opted to try for riverfront high-rise condos with more intrusive amenities and most likely netted more profit. Instead, it is embarking on a project that will make money, but also satisfy conservationists and neighbors -- and offer an attractive lifestyle to future residents.

While this column is sometimes accused of being pro-development, our opinions have really only supported managed growth that will minimize negative impacts and allow the inevitable to occur in a tolerable manner. Village Down River is exactly that kind of project.

We would like to see more developers put extra time and thought into creating communities in all price ranges -- both for owner-residents and rentals -- that minimize environmental impact and maximize our region's potential as rural community. That could mean less money in the pockets of those who develop property and sell homes, but even those people will benefit from a community that is well thought-out and designed with the best interest of future residents in mind.

We believe this concept could be expedited by homebuyers who demand such qualities. If buyers weren't snapping up cheaply build houses at top dollar as fast as they can be erected, builders and developers would have an incentive to meet the demands of potential customers.

We applaud the Village Down River project and look forward to seeing the first houses under construction by next spring.

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