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Holiday home tour showcases best of Northwest Valley
Part one of three
The holidays have arrived, and a 30-year-plus Northwest Valley holiday tradition is just around the corner.
Sun Health Foundation’s 2012 Holiday Home Tour — Inspiration, Gifts Memories is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 1.
Here’s a quick preview of the six participating Sun City Grand and Sun City West homes:
SUN CITY GRAND HOMES
HOME 1
Quiet elegance describes this 2,800-square-foot Hampton model bordering the North Golf Course at Granite Falls Golf Club. Blending inviting hues of aqua and peach, the home captures the grandeur of Arizona’s stunning sunsets. Through the expertise of Deb Fowler Designs, it uses exquisite furnishings, fabrics, slip covers, draperies and rugs as well as an artful blend of traditional furniture styles to create a welcoming, truly unique and lovely living space.
HOME 2
History, heritage and culture are combined with unmistakable style and serenity in this 1,900-square-foot Desert Rose model serving as a testament to a lifetime of travel, treasure hunting and stories waiting to be told. Its eclectic interior, boasting one-of-a-kind works of art from around the world, is complemented by lush landscaping reflective of the homeowner’s roots in the Pacific Northwest. The use of rich colors and perfectly paired patterns illustrate the value of taking risks to create a living space that’s all your own.
SUN CITY WEST HOMES
HOME 3
Plantation shutters, extensive tile work, updated cabinetry, granite and marble counters as well as built-in entertainment area and display niches serve as backdrops to original Native American pottery, paintings and objects d’art in this renovated and expanded San Carlos model.
The fireplace is electric and the adjustable flame effect is from glass pebbles and mirrors, the newest in contemporary fireplaces. It has a glass front with a tile surround.
With an extended patio and pool overlooking a pond and fountain on the fourth fairway of Echo Mesa Golf Course, this comfortable home featuring the latest in modern amenities epitomizes luxurious yet relaxed living indoors and out. Tour attendees are also welcome to view a 1938 Jaguar replica built from a kit by the homeowners.
HOME 4
Wonderful white provides the backdrop in this Monterey model overlooking the fourth tee and lake at Echo Mesa Golf Course.
Among the features are innovative gadgetry designed and installed by the homeowners, including a 9-foot television screen descending from the ceiling and a “secret door” between the kitchen and dining rooms.
Also hidden just off the master bedroom and behind electronic screens is a full spa for relaxation, including Jacuzzi tub, soft lighting and aroma therapy.
HOME 5
Capturing the homeowners’ love of the ocean and years spent in Florida, this home’s décor and details deliver a soothing blend of casual elegance sprinkled with contemporary comfort.
With an oval-shaped butcher block kitchen island, feature fireplace that ignites glass beads rather than logs and a cozy backyard fire pit, it’s hard to find just one focal point in this 2,800-square-foot expanded Montera model on Trail Ridge Golf Course.
HOME 6
From the collection of unopened bottles artfully displayed inside the well-stocked wine cellar to a “man cave” adorned with a Super Bowl trophy and memorabilia highlighting a lifetime love of sports, this house captures the personal and professional passions of those who call it home.
A coordinated blend of carpet, wood and tile flooring coupled with granite counters and nooks with recessed lighting resulting in gallery-like displays tie together the many distinct features of this 4,300-square-foot Fitzpatrick Ranch home.
In addition to the holiday decorations and décor ideas, guests will also be able to enjoy food and wine tastings from delicious caterers including Anacapa Restaurant, Caballero Grill, Outback Steakhouse, Rio Mirage Café and Vogue Bistro.
And if they want to leave the driving to someone else, for an additional $5 guests travel to each of the homes aboard a luxury coach thanks to To My Surprise Airport Shuttle Service and Sun Health Senior Living’s Grandview Terrace.
Tickets are $30 for a self-guided tour and $35 for guests wishing to take a roundtrip tour on the coach, which will be departing continuously throughout the day from The Colonnade, 19116 Colonnade Way in Surprise.
The Colonnade will also be hosting this year’s Gift Boutique, where guests can get a jump on their holiday shopping by browsing through decorative household and seasonal items, jewelry and accessories, all sales-tax free.
Call 623-832-4931 for more information or tickets, or visit the Holiday Home Tour page under the Events tab at www.sunhealthfoundation.org.
Task force park plans take shape
After nine months of meetings and community input, the Parks Master Plan Task Force has a number of specific plans in place for parks and trails in Cloquet.
There’s some bold thinking in those plans. At Athletic Park on 14th Street, for example, a draft plan shows no baseball field. Instead there is a multiuse field in the center of the park, with a band shell in one corner, a basketball half court, the existing playground, a restroom pavilion and a skate park/special use area.
“It goes back to the neighborhood park concept and having a multiuse facility,” explained Caleb Peterson, assistant city engineer who works with the Parks Board and the task force. “Now with the [high school’s] baseball field taking up so much space, it doesn’t really serve that purpose. But talking with the coaches and Braun Park [officials], they’re very much in favor of centralizing locations and moving the high school down to Braun Park. We’d keep the lights at Athletic, though, and the field could be used for anything.”
Not shown on the plan for Athletic Park is an ice skating rink.
Peterson said he didn’t know if that was part of the plan or not, noting the consultants working with the task force and the city haven’t designated winter versus summer use.
“Ice rinks are a question we’ll have to answer and figure out if they can stay in the current plans,” he said. “That’s one of the points of having a community meeting: to present these plans and start taking feedback.”
Residents of all ages are invited to attend a community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in the commons area of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College to talk about the specific park plans and priorities. It will be the third community-wide meeting; the first attracted close to 30 residents while only a handful turned up for the second.
“Anyone, of any age, who’s passionate about the parks system is more than welcome to come and participate,” he said, stressing that the various drawings are simply planning documents and subject to change. “The whole process was designed with the idea that we want community input and we want people to get involved now, rather that when the construction plans are on the table.”
The group has not completed a plan for every park in the city, Peterson said, but there are ideas outlined for each of the parks that would qualify for funds from the recently passed local option sales tax, as well as any parks that would see larger scale change.
The neighborhood park theme makes repeated appearances.
Plans for Hilltop Park – currently the soccer epicenter of Cloquet with three fields and substantial parking – show an additional multiuse practice field/rink north of the park (behind the 14th Street Apartment complex). North of that plans show a 9-hole disc golf course, more parking and a restroom pavilion. A smaller parking lot at the eastern end of the park would also serve as a basketball court and the existing, fairly old, playground would be renovated.
Peterson said the consultants at LHB suggested the disc golf course.
“I was surprised, but a disc golf course wouldn’t limit development of more fields in the future and it fits in nicely with the natural features there,” Peterson said. “It’s also not really expensive to develop.”
Veterans Park, at the intersection of Highway 33 and Cloquet Avenue, would retain a large multiuse field but gain a hillside amphitheater and lots of landscaping, in addition to the existing picnic pavilion, flag plaza and veterans’ garden.
Plans for the entire Pine Valley complex – with two hockey shelters, ski jumps and cross country ski/nature trails – propose a new route from Pine Valley to the Washington Street intersection, a reconfigured parking lot by the ice rinks, paved and expanded parking by the ski area, a zip line, mountain bike trails, an enhanced chalet and renovated ski jumps. The senior center and “The Barn” ice rink would also be renovated.
Also falling in the category of “big” changes is the riverfront area in downtown Cloquet. Plans for that area show a river trail loop (including a pedestrian bridge across the river and boardwalk through wetlands at the eastern end of the loop, among other things).
Peterson said those who attend the meeting will talk about the individual plans for the parks as well as priorities.
“Is it best to focus on an individual park and take it from start to finish or make little improvements in various parks?” Peterson said. “We have to figure out how we’d go about making the improvements, too.”
This will be the last parks planning meeting until after the holidays, Peterson said.
Those who can’t make the community meeting are invited to fill out a new survey linked to the city’s website at www.ci.cloquet.mn.us. This is a different survey than the one the city posted originally.
Residents without internet access can contact Caleb Peterson at City Hall at 218-879-6758 for a paper copy of the survey.
Express Yourself
Community Meeting Three: Refining the Plans
Date: Thursday, Nov. 29
Time: 6-8:30 p.m.
Place: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Commons
Take the new Park and Trail Priorities survey online at www.ci.cloquet.mn.us or contact Caleb Peterson.
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parks plan, news, cloquet, updates
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Edible plants idea to beautify High Street
GROWING a garden of edible plants along the High Street is one suggestion to turn Whitstable into a flowery oasis.
Whitstable Improvement Trust has been given a pot of money worth up to £12,000 to encourage people to beautify the town for gardening competition South East in Bloom.
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BLOOMING BRILLIANT: Whitstable Improvement Trust chairman Roger Seijo has high hopes for the town GIIS20121114B-002_C
Residents and community groups are being challenged to come up with ideas to turn neglected corners of the town into horticultural havens.
Chairman Roger Seijo said ideas included wildflower seeding on Tankerton Slopes and felling “badly maintained” trees outside the library but that it was up to the community to decide how to spend the cash.
He said: “Whitstable is not a traditional seaside town with floral displays on the promenade and floral clocks. I’m interested much more in large-scale landscaping and taking up the Transition Town idea of edible landscapes.
“There’s an edible garden outside the library and I don’t see why the medical centre shouldn’t grow medicinal herbs.”
He added he would like to see the “bland, harsh industrial scapes” such as Gorrell Tank car park made into something special.
Mr Seijo added: “There are all sorts of neglected patches of land that could be used by the community.”
A landscape architect and teacher of eco-living by trade, Mr Seijo designed Deadman’s Corner in Whitstable harbour and seeds have now been planted in the back wall.
The trust also created planters in the harbour, seating at Cushing’s View, signs around the town and the tearoom gardens on Tankerton Slopes.
It plans to improve the garden in front of its shop as part of Whitstable in Bloom.
Mr Seijo said: “The trust has run Whitstable in Bloom for a number of years and this is about upping the ante and entering South East in Bloom. Herne Bay and Canterbury have been very successful and we have been left behind.
“Once we’ve identified the various groups that want to take this forward we’ll come up with a strategy.”
The trust expects to put the town forward for the contest in two to three years’ time but work needs to start as soon as possible.
To get involved, call 01227 770060.
Former school site to be transformed
A developer was given the go-ahead from city council to transform the former Canadian Martyr School site into high-end townhouse units.
The property, on the north end of Greenfield Drive, will be used to create 16 townhouse units at the edge of the Urban Settlement Area.
City staff in its report to council states the property is large enough to support the development, with ample parking and outdoor amenity space for future residents.
The townhouses will be rental units and subject to site plan control.
The Ontario numbered company owned by Frank Naccarato and Joel Chisolm, successfully had thee property rezoned from rural area to residential to allow for the development to proceed.
The development will see a private driveway constructed along the end of the development to provide access to the three townhouse blocks.
Three separate floor plans, ranging from 900 square feet to just over 1,000 square feet are planned and each unit would have an attached garage and single-level entry into the home.
The units will be marketed to seniors as rental units and will be built with seniors in mind.
The staff report states that the increased traffic generated from the units would not severely impact on the existing roadway or the single detached character of the abutting subdivision. In fact, the development will have less traffic impact than the former elementary school.
The developers also plan to erect a fence along the entire perimeter of the property.
The same application was originally presented to council in the spring, but was deferred at the request of the two Ward 5 councillors, Frank Fata and Marchy Bruini, in order to allow the developer time to hold a neighbourhood meeting and present his ideas.
The meeting alleviated neighbours’ concerns about drainage, traffic and the size of the development and allowed residents to view floor plans of the unit.
The townhouses will have a stone front and finished landscaping, will be accessible for disabled and seniors and include main-floor laundry and storage facilities.
It’s expected that construction of the units will begin in the spring.
Lead downtown revitalization still a vital option
Lead downtown revitalization still a vital option
Posted: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 11:30 am
Black Hills Pioneer
LEAD — Citizens in Lead have called for commissioners to move forward with ideas for ways to improve the downtown business district, now that voters have settled the Main Street parking issue.
On Monday, members of the Lead City Commission passed the first part of an ordinance that will maintain the current parking configuration on Main Street. The action closes a debate that has been ongoing for more than a year, about whether to remove some parking from Main Street in favor of streetscape improvements designed to promote pedestrian traffic for shoppers and visitors, and accommodate tour buses. On Nov. 6, voters overwhelmingly supported a city ordinance commissioners passed in December 2011, which officially maintains parking on the south side of Main Street from Galena to Siever streets.
Now that the issue has been settled, Lead residents are ready to move forward.
“I am anxious to hear what you propose to improve Lead’s downtown district,” Deb Vardiman told commissioner Denise Parker, who has supported keeping parking on Main Street.
Rose Burns reminded members of the commission of a two-part study conducted by Tall Grass, a graphic landscaping architect from Custer, which analyzed parking in Lead as well as downtown revitalization possibilities.
“That is still a viable option,” Burns said of the downtown revitalization plans that Tall Grass presented to the city. “One would hope that you would work hard on the plan that was already paid for and move forward with that.”
Burns was referring to a set of drawings that Tall Grass generated for the city, to graphically show what Main Street would look like if parking was removed. As part of those plans, the company also generated a separate set of drawings to show some ideas for how Lead’s downtown district could be improved, with parking upgrades, improvements to the library, and other projects.
“I am disappointed that nothing has been achieved except talking about parking,” said Glorianne Davis. “We have a plan and we have some good work from Tall Grass, and I don’t know why we can’t move forward with some of those ideas. There has been a suggestion that we get someone in here to work on economic development. Something needs to be done to move forward instead of just talking.”
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012 11:30 am.
Professional holiday lighting may make your life easier
LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) — We all want our houses to look merry and bright for the holidays, but putting up and taking down all of those lights is a pain. Now you can get someone else to do all of the dirty work.
It maybe just Thanksgiving Eve, but the Christmas lights are already up outside many homes and businesses bringing holiday cheer to neighborhoods all over the area. But if you have a display at your house, you probably know it is hard work to get all of those lights to look so good.
If you want your house to look magical for the holidays but don’t want to do all the work required, there is a company that will do all of the work for you.
Jim Hafendorfer has been in the landscape business for more than a quarter century. He is the owner of Jungle Jim Landscaping. “Owning a landscaping company is seasonal,” he says. “So as the business has grown we have to become creative and find other sources of revenue to keep our guys going year-round.”
To try to keep his 60 employees working during the slow season, several years ago he made the decision to buy a franchise business called Brite Ideas.
“The nice thing about this little business,” says Hafendorfer, “is that it is holiday lighting. After the leaf season is done, there is kind of a gap between snow and ice removal, so this is a great filler.”
Jim’s company will install, take down, store, and maintain all of your holiday displays. Customers can choose the type of lighting they want from a catalog.
“It is hard to get up there, especially when you have a tall house,” says Sharri Schlafke, one of Jim’s customers. “This is just lovely, they take care of it and they maintain it.”
Minimum cost is $1,500 so this kind of service is certainly a luxury, but Jim says business is good this year. “It kind of rides the economy,” he explains, “so it is kind of an indication that things are getting a little better; we are kind of seeing a resurgence of activity and phone calls that we are getting for the holidays.”
Obviously the service is more than worth it for some people. “When you are a kid and see all of the holiday lights, it makes everything more magical,” says Sharri.
Interest expressed in Murphy Motors building
HANNIBAL — The former Murphy Motors building won’t be facing the wrecking ball, at least in the immediate future.
When the Hannibal City Council approved purchasing the former Murphy Motors site at its Oct. 16 meeting, the proposed plan was for the structure at 422 N. Main St. to be razed. And while the purchase was completed on Nov. 7, the decision to bring the structure down has been put on hold in part because of interest that’s been shown in the building.
“We’ve heard interest from several people who want to lease, purchase, or occupy the building. We’ve had a few that have no interest to lease or purchase it, but have asked the city not to demolish it,” said City Manager Jeff LaGarce. “With several parties expressing interest in the building, we’ve deferred any demolition plans for the moment until that is decided.”
Earlier this month, LaGarce offered some preliminary ideas on how the property could be used.
“Our interest was in developing a site plan to mix green space with attractive parking, internal landscaping, quality signage, perhaps a ‘Welcome Sign’ and unique kiosk for downtown visitors and tour bus parking,” said the city manager, explaining a “hybrid plan” will be developed so the site can serve as a “downtown fairgrounds” for events and provide parking for visitors and tour buses.
“We also felt this site may accommodate many traditional Main Street special events, allowing the opportunity to remove some events from the street to this fairgrounds site,” added the city manager.
LaGarce says no decision has been made as of yet regarding whether plans for the site would be drafted in-house or by an outside firm, if the decision is made by the “elected body” to tear down the existing building.
If at some point the decision is made to tear down the building, it doesn’t appear the city will need to seek out a private contractor to perform the task.
“The Street Department feels they have the ability to demolish the site,” said LaGarce. “They purchased a trackhoe several months ago, and its already been useful on many projects. The Street Superintendent feels confident he can raze the structure.”
The Murphy Motors building has stood empty since shortly after the dealership was purchased by the Poage corporation in April 2008. Murphy Motors relocated to 422 N. Main St. in 1963 from its previous home at Eighth and Church streets.
Diet & Fitness project survives council briefing
By Ray Gronberg
gronberg@heraldsun.com; 919-419-6648
DURHAM – Most City Council members raised no objections Tuesday to continuing work on the idea of demolishing the former Duke Diet Fitness Center and replacing it with a man-made swamp.
“It’s just too big an opportunity on an ideally placed site,” Councilwoman Diane Catotti said, alluding to the potential for using the property to filter runoff from downtown Durham and the Trinity Park area.
Catotti and her colleagues in essence gave the Public Works Department permission to get the ball rolling on the design of what officials expect will be an $8 million project.
But one councilman, Eugene Brown, said he has reservations and would be particularly dubious about paying top dollar to acquire the Diet Fitness Center from Duke University.
Public Works is figuring that about $3 million of the project’s $8 million price tag would go toward acquisition.
That’s in line with what officials were expecting to have to pay for it up until early 2009, when City Manager Tom Bonfield nixed a plan to buy the facility and turn it into a city-run community center.
Duke hasn’t been able to find another potential buyer for the building and its nine-acre, floodplain site, Brown noted.
“I know we’re dealing with this poor, struggling private university just to the west of us, but the idea of paying even close to $3 million for what is basically a white elephant is just absurd,” Brown said.
Bonfield said he’s in “active” talks with Duke officials about the price, but offered no details. “We’re trying to work through some issues,” he said.
The manager rejected the community center proposal in 2009 because he didn’t think the city and its Parks and Recreation Department could afford to operate another such facility.
The proposal – pushed nearly to the brink of acquisition by Bonfield’s predecessor, former City Manager Patrick Baker – also ran counter to a city parks plan that called for locating new community centers in the suburbs.
Public Works over the past year has pushed the man-made swamp idea because it needs to find a way to meet new state anti-pollution mandates intended to reduce deposits of nitrogen and phosphorous reaching Falls Lake.
Falls is Raleigh’s primary drinking supply and receives runoff from every part of Durham County that lies north of the Durham Freeway.
The state wants local governments to reduce runoff even from existing development. At present, runoff from the 485-acre basin above the Diet Fitness Center isn’t filtered before it heads to the lake, Public Works stormwater engineer Sandra Wilbur said.
Swamps both natural and man-made basically absorb nutrients from water that passes through them.
Public Works contends a project on the Diet Fitness site would be more effective and less expensive than building a number of smaller filters in the Trinity Park and downtown basins.
Council members acknowledged that the project does have some neighborhood opposition. The Old North Durham Neighborhood Association formally weighed in against the idea, arguing that officials should look at ideas that would retain the building.
Its president, Peter Katz, said residents fear the swamp “could be a liability to our community” because people in other parts of Durham haven’t liked the city’s handling of similar projects.
He cited complaints from neighborhoods like Forest Hills that basically concern the city’s handling of pollution-control landscaping along streams.
Council members urged Public Works to keep talking with neighbors. But when it comes to the complaints about landscaping, “some have validity, and some are debatable,” Councilman Mike Woodard said.