Henderson City Council approves mixed-use community

The Henderson City Council unanimously approved the largest mixed-use community in the city Tuesday at the corner of the vacant lot at Stephanie Street and Wigwam Parkway, and overturned the Planning Commission’s decision to allow two towers to be only 250 feet tall. Glen, Smith & Glen Development originally asked for 330 feet, which is what was approved.

“I can’t see a reason to limit the height in this area,” Mayor Jim Gibson said. “I don’t find it offensive.”

Ward 1 Councilwoman Gerri Schroder said the height seemed to be too much until she went to the site and saw the area and the grading.

The 40-acre development, which won’t begin construction for about two years, still will have to be approved for design and a traffic study at each stage.

The mixed-use project, Park Heights, will include 1,700 homes and 850,000 square feet of commercial space.

“This was an old gravel pit,” Ward 3 Councilman Jack Clark said. “It’s important to see how far we’ve come from an old hole in the ground.”

Plans for Park Heights show a hotel, three-story townhomes, 14.7 acres of open space, stores and restaurants. The project will be built in six phases over six to 10 years. There also will be a civic building, which could be used as a Henderson library, a parks and recreation building, a station for public transportation or anything else city staff would like.

The city is developing a 100-acre lot directly behind the project into a city park. The park will tie into the development, giving residents access to the area, which will have a large gathering space, an amphitheater with a stage, a playground, a tot lot and a dog park.

There also are plans to build an underpass below American Pacific Drive, which would attach the new park with the Arroyo Grande Sports Complex, 298 Arroyo Grande Blvd. Construction would begin on the park in late 2009.

“There are very few places in the city that I would even consider a project like this,” Clark said. “This is one.”

The project was approved by Gibson, Schroder, Clark, Ward 2 Councilman Andy Hafen and Ward 4 Councilman Steve Kirk.

Contact Henderson View reporter Lauren Romano at lromano@viewnews.com or 477-3839.