By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com
The Sanford City Council unanimously rejected last week the latest plan by developer D.R. Horton for a 600-home subdivision that has stumbled repeatedly for months along the road to approval.
City leaders have been working in recent months to draw a line in the sand about the quality of proposals for new subdivisions being submitted to them for approval, and the absence of a more global perspective in how those new subdivisions are going to relate to others nearby.
D.R. Horton’s vision for this development, to be known as Gum Fork, was a sprawling one. Initial designs submitted to the city detail plans for 167 single family homes, 300 apartment units, 128 townhomes, and a commercial area that could potentially include a convenience store, retail shops, a restaurant with drive-thru options, daycare opportunities, and even a hotel.
The site is a 110.48-acre tract south of U.S. 1 and east of Colon Road, just across the road from where the city is planning to start construction later this year on its new fire station. It’s also just across the four-lane from another large Horton project now under development with a lengthy history of controversy, Galvin’s Ridge.
The single-family dwellings Horton proposed to build within the development are from its “Express” line, the company’s cheapest housing product. “Express” is described on the company’s website as “an entry-level option for those who want a place to call their own” and they are marketed as homes for first-time buyers.
Horton has been submitting plans for Gum Fork to the city since November 2022, a process necessary because the property was zoned last year by the city council as the Gum Fork Conditional Zoning District. That action made it a stand-alone area with unique requirements and conditions not subject to the city’s zoning ordinance.
Each time the plans have gone back for review, the city identified concerns and asked Horton to address them as future plans were revised. But as each revised version of the project’s layout was submitted for city approval, the very same concerns that had been noted in previous reviews were noted again because they had not been fixed.
Mayor Pro Tempore Charles Taylor spoke about the Council’s concern at its April 4 meeting, asking why Horton wanted to go with a cheaper housing product at this location that serves as the gateway to Sanford’s northern edges instead of something higher end that made a statement about the city.
“These are Raleigh commuters that are choosing to live in our community now,” he said. “Why not go with a little bit higher end product when the market that is coming here is used that?”
Horton’s representative, Jonathan Cooper, who was joined by Urban Design Partners’ Brian Richards, tried to make the case that the development was being targeted towards a particular demographic – workers who earn between $50,000 to $100,000 a year. It’s an argument that the council has heard before and, in fact, it has approved a number of housing proposals over the past few years that were designed with that niche in mind.
But Mayor Rebecca Wyhof Salmon joined the six council members present to speak with one voice, and the message was that Sanford wants communities and subdivisions that consist of a variety of housing types and that represent the income levels of all the 33,000 residents.
Taylor summed up the council’s concerns not only with the most recent Horton proposal, but also of others that it has sent back for redesign in the past few months.
“My problem tonight is that this corridor is the gateway coming into our community. This board has been diligent in expressing to you, for the last two times you have come to us, that we don’t want an inexpensive, cheap looking product along that corridor coming into town,” he continued. “Still, you keep coming back to us with your least expensive, low-end-of-the-line product. You have several lines above this one that would be much more attractive along that corridor. We’ve told you that repeatedly. I don’t know how much more explicitly we could have expressed that. And here you are again, bringing us the same thing.”
Cooper said that a portion of the existing tree line, which he called a “tree buffer,” along the edge with U.S. 1 would be maintained to cut down on the visibility of the Express line housing. He added that the first thing that could be seen in the development from its entrance would be the townhomes and a fountain. But the commercial development that Horton envisions at the development’s entrance could also be seen from U.S. 1 and from Colon Road.
It all came down to a consensus among the council members that Horton simply wasn’t listening to its concerns.
“I hope you are hearing what the council is actually saying tonight,” council member Byron Buckels said.
That sentiment was echoed by council member Linda Rhodes.
“The thing that bothers me most about this is the amount of prodding it’s taken on behalf of this council to identify the issues we were not happy with. That leaves a questionable taste in my mouth, to put it bluntly,” she said.
D.R. Horton will now go back to the drawing board and try to come back to the city with a design that not only satisfies these concerns, and still makes money for the company.
With the history from Galvens Ridge into this newest venture,DR. HORTON should be dropped from any further projects in Lee County. They have proven through their past actions they can not be trusted, to even come close to the expectations and needs of the Counties future. If the council allows this company to do any further damage they also should be considered not qualified to lead.
Legally you can’t deny them their right to build. Legally what you do is you get everything you want in writing, then obtain letters of credit and clawbacks that allow the City to take the property if the developer does not perform.
I have first hand experience with a house built by DR Horton. We bought the house in Oct. 2022. The house had been built in 1999. The house had a toxic mold and I was allergic to it. There was mold smell in the hot water as well. Mold was not visible but the smell was intense. We sold the house to an ibuyer. We lost about $80000. That was a part of our life savings. DR Horton does not care who’s life it will destroy as long as they make a big profit. I am not the only victim of this company. They cut corners as long as the problem is not visible to a buyer. I suspect they do not put a vapor barrier under the slab and makes the slab as thin as possible. For whatever reason the city council has made very good decision.
The physical layout of the proposal is designed to allow you to see as much of the apartments as possible from US 1. Eventually US 1 will be widened and as trees in the right of way are cut down or die, opening in the visual barrier will occur. The City Council ought to take a field trip to Apex or Holly Springs and identify a specific subnivium they like and tell the developer to build that including full letter of credits and clawbacks if they fail to comply.
This tells you how much this city council does not really care about those people who make $50,000 to $100 thousand. Again a democrat run system keeping the poor and middle class in the dirt, but talks how they are worth something
Yes, except the local government is GOP-controlled. But yes, a bad decision for poor people.
Thank Goodness!!! Sanford is growing entirely too quickly and it’s time to slow the growth! Let’s get some decent grocery stores, a couple of more schools and do some beautification projects to support the community that we currently have. I’m not a fan of more traffic, air and water pollution, overcrowded schools and more increased taxes. It’s about time that we slow the growth!
Lowe’s Foods is a great grocery store.
As someone who lives in a DR Horton community, we regret making this decision. Even with garentees is writing DRH will do what they want and ignore their commitments. They will just add it to the legal department list of suits.
City of Sanford, you did the right thing.
All builders are like that. My neighborhood was build around 2016 and everyone here has had to replace their roof, along with other repairs, one of which the builder has accepted responsibility for, and the guy who built my neighborhood was just an individual local guy, not an evil corporation. They are really ALL like this, because they are allowed to be. That’s part of the package when you buy a new house.
That should say “none of which” the builder has accepted responsibility for, not “one of which”.
Sanford is the Walmart of the area real estate market. That’s the reality of being an hour away from all the cities. Poor people need places to live too, and it’s the decent thing to do to allow builders to build those places. Sanford will never be North Hills, and THANK GOD FOR THAT. I moved here from North Hills and the neighbors there were downright obnoxious. Allow Sanford to be what it’s good at: a decent place to live for the working poor. It’s OK.
I am in a DR Horton home. It was built a new build 2022. I have two words…BUYER REMORSE!
From experience! DO NOT succumb to D.R. Horton!
A ruthless and unprofessional leader, employees, and contractors!
This is the most prolifically deviant evil that plague’s unsuspecting citizens! They will produce sub par housing and destruction of their “customers” land with absolutely no problem! They will do nothing to make or help you or your neighborhood. This company is rotten from leadership down. Leadership does NOT care for a quality of life for you or your property! It is the choice to destroy and abuse you as a customer!
Walk away City of Sanford!!!
D.R. Horton employees have admitted that the company builds homes to comply with federal standards and building codes. These homes are not meant to handle the humidity levels present in the Southeast region of the country.
I don’t know if Sanford uses the Southern Building Code or International Code, but no one wants to buy a house built to minimum code. Minimum code is a defacto mobile home.
In a buyer beware society the D. R. Horton home is not a true investment in real estate but a place to reduce the absolute cost of rent. You get a tax deduction but the actual equity you might build is more than offset by the cost to maintain the structure.
One of the biggest problems with homes like this are Midwestern and Yankee buyers who do not realize they have to take an active part in dehumidifying the home through the monitoring and control of vent, louvers, etc.
The real question the City has to answer is this – is this structure worse over the long run than a mobile home park? Sadly that piss poor house is better than MHP when it comes to the breakeven cost of providing services – better for the City, and better for the County.
All cheap development needs to be hidden from the main highway to fool the traveling public and potential investors. The Russians called it a Potemkin Village.
No one pays much mind to the mobile home park at the intersection of Old US 1 (Deep River Road) and US 15-501. Not much attention is paid to the old mhp across from the old airport off NC 78.
The D R Horton home is like a nice new double wide mobile home. That’s the perspective you need to have when you look at them – they are just a incarnation of Jim Walters Homes.
I see a lot of people ranting about poor people and getting a home, if a poor person saw what goes into a DR Horton home they wouldn’t want it,
The implications that turning down the housing plan is somehow a slight against the poor. Read the comments customers of this contracting company are making. You are not helping the poor get into a house with this company. you are helping the poor get into a money pit. Low cost housing does not need to be low quality and that s what we are talking about here. Building low cost and low quality. That does not help the 50K-100K families because the value of their home will only decrease and they will never be able to enjoy the economic growth that comes from sound home investment. In 20 years this subdivision will become a burden on the county and those that were scammed into buying these homes will see their dreams of being a homeowner die. Many first time buyers buy homes with the plan of it being an investment that grows in value, then sell it and get a better home. This subdivision isn’t an entry way to home ownership and economic growth. It is an entry way to slow economic death. The City and the County has the power to set zoning rules that requires standards of construction. They need to exercise that power to ensure ALL future homeowners in the county have the confidence that the homes they are buying are well built. Don’t rely on federal or even state standards. Establish our own standards that are better than some arbitrary standards set by people that have not idea what building code standards should be applied in our region. I can promise you, if these homes don’t have effective humidity management these home will be condemned for mold in a decade and then there is an entire subdivision of garbage sitting at the gateway to Sanford…