empty subdivisions

[citeright]

Is it possible that the county government will complete subdivisions that are being abandoned?

I noticed that the bonds or guarantees provided by developers to the county and service providers like Regional Utilities are not enough to complete the developments. Who is responsible for ensuring that the projects are completed and not becoming blight on the county.

Some developers can not pay for the taps and are leaving entire subdivisions unfinished. Why would the service providers not assess tap fees on lot by lot basis rather than trying to collect for an entire subdivision.

Is the county going to take over the responsibility of finishing the installation of water and sewer in unfinished subdivisions?

Just a few questions I have. I submit that we might have to rethink about how much we are going to to do or not do to get our economy going. We have to take charge of ourselves and not hope that the State or Federal governments will trickle down to us.

please let me know your feelings.

 

[JUL]

will probably become one persons loss and anothers gain

 

[passin thru]

Most of those unfinished subdivisions have been, or will be, going back to the bank that lent on the project.

If the County finished these projects off, with our tax dollars, does that then become a gift to the bank, before they sell it to someone else? Or should the County buy these lands, finish them, and then resell? It's not the biz the County's in, but it might be a stimulus, as you say?

But ultimately, who wants to buy the finished lots & build houses there anytime soon? Because, who wants to buy those houses anytime soon?

 

[idlewind]

The county should definitely not throw any good money after this bad. It has more than enough to do and limited resources to do it with.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I am pretty certain that County funds cannot be used to benefit the private sector in this manner. If County funds were used, the public would get to use the project, as I understand law. (I am not a lawyer.)

 

[citeright]

The subdivision's utilities and roads that the county finishes would have to given to the county. The banks that hold the property should have to finish the subdivision at least to a point that the water, sewer, and roads are complete. how else will they sell and regain the investments.

another way of looking at it, if the county finished the subdivisions at least some one would be working and the abanadoned projects will not deteriate beyond repair.

why can't the servcie providers attempt to recoup the losses one lot at a time rather than trying to get all of the money at one time. I would think that one lot would sell quicker than a subdivision.

 

[AAbsolute]

What's with our County Government? They have everything they need in their posession at the time a sub-division is approved and platted to secure the completion. From Driftwood to Hampton Creek and more, the County lets the security instrument (performance bond) be retired before completion. What's the bond for, for God's sake?

 

[Smiling JOe]

who wants to be the first lot owner in a subdivision, where he or she would be the only person paying the HOA dues to maintain all of the common elements? I don't think we will see these empty subdivisions being sold off one lot at a time.

 

[citeright]

If individual lots are not sold then the banks must hold onto the subdivisions until someone is willing to purchase the entire property.

The HOA system does not work anyway. Most HOA are unable to provide for the needed maintenance anyway, most are controlled by the developer (driftwood) until enough owners control the majority of lots.

We have some tough times ahead, how are we going to be proactive and not change the way development occurs? Why is it impossible to get the elements needed together to change and improve business.

I advocate making some adjustments in business practices and maybe not helping the banks continue to hold on to bad developments. Until the developers finally sell at a discount, accept the losses, and salvage what they can, Walton County will prolong the pain and need a bailout of some sort.

sorry to seem negative, I'm only hoping to begin a discussion about what the county is going to have to accept and address.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I know of some people who would love to buy projects like Nature's Walk, but with the bond in place, it is too pricey for what it's worth to the buyers.

Development procedures may need to be addressed, but as someone mentioned, the County cannot go around bailing out lenders, without taking ownership in the property. Is it worth it for the County to bail out the developments? Good question, but I don't think it would be enough to start a wave of new buyers, and just guessing here, but I don't think it would generate enough tax revenue to counter the cost. With budgets being so tight this year, I don't think you will see the County even thinking about such a thing. You might have better luck with getting a sponsor of a development, like they do for stadiums in big cities. Instead of it being "NatureWalk," maybe it becomes, "a Google Development."