A Principle to Guide Residential Density
If there are only a few homes, they bear the cost of all the infrastructure for the entire project. This leads to higher priced lots (and therefore homes). If there are more units, the unit cost for each parcel can come down.
At Yellow Hills Ranch we determined the density by considering first what the fabric of the community should look like. The number and type of homes needs to accommodate the various kinds of residents needed to allow the community to function as intended. You might also want to review our definition for a "sustainable community" for a complete picture.
Density Defines Who Participates
Imagine the fabric of a sustainable community. What daily activities go on there? Who participates? The goal is to create housing for the people the community needs to function. This requires prices that allow them to be included. Here are some people we'd like to include to create a functioning community:
- Trades people to build and maintain improvements. It is fundamentally different if they are residents providing that service for neighbors rather than outside contractors on a schedule who come and go as quickly as possible.
- People to organize small scale agriculture and small businesses. Small ranchers and farmers engaged in a breeding program; raising livestock; managed grazing; cheese production; raising wool for crafts and more.
- Knowledge workers who choose to live in an appealing natural environment, but who can function in their profession if they are connected to a network.
- Teachers, master craftsmen and other skilled people to help create a web of learning within the community to transfer knowledge and skills that a community needs.
- Second home buyers who come to the area seasonally, or full time residents.
Our Conclusion on Residential Units
After considering what the community needs, defining the number and configuration of the homes is easier. The above thought process led us to the following conclusions.
- AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The community benefits from affordable housing in that trades people can afford to live there. We propose 25% of homes be in this range, or 82 units. ("Affordable" in Rio Arriba is defined on this page in the sidebar.) The "workforce housing" community within the Ranch will contain 100 acres or so, and be located in the northeast area of the property adjacent to the Talavera Subdivision (See Development Area Aerial Photo). Each home will consist of between 1,200 and 1,500 square feet. It will include an enclosed outside area on a parcel with water and electric. This 100-acre community will have its own park or commons. We are considering using traditional adobe block and timber to construct this community, if practical.
- ENTRY LEVEL: The next 100 parcels will be priced to appeal to people with a more moderate income. Building parcels will be in the range of 1 acre. These parcels will also be attached to cooperative land, depending on the lay of the land.
- MIDDLE LEVEL: The next 100 building parcels will step up in price again and the building parcel will be 2 acres surrounded by cooperative land, depending on the lay of the land.
- LARGER PROPERTIES: The final 33 building parcels would be 5 acres with a larger piece of cooperative land surrounding it. This configuration translates into a small ranch within the overall property, or a hunting reserve with rights during the hunting season. These areas may border some of the large open range on the Ranch and they would have their own independent infrastructure at the site of the improvements.
The Density
With the above factors in mind, and while maintaining flexibility as to the size of the cooperative land the Ranch may offer to each parcel, depending on the way the land lays, it breaks down to 325 total units, as follows:
- WORKFORCE HOUSING 82 units
- ONE ACRE + COMMON 100 units
- TWO ACRE + COMMON 100 units
- THREE ACRE + COMMON 43 units
We anticipate, once the overall density and plan are approved, to submit one or more plats so the project can be undertaken in phases. The aim would be to record plats that provide workforce housing and a selection of other configurations that appeal to one level or another of the market.