VACAVILLE, Calif. — A new master-planned community is under construction in Vacaville.
The space is focus on creating a sense of wellness, safety and ecological benefits. When finished, it will become a walkable community of housing, recreation, and jobs that are all meeting green building standards.
Lagoon Valley has a goal of leaving 85% of open space to protect the environment.
"People will be able to interact with the environment, the natural environment much more so than in typical communities. We really like the idea that it's somewhat self selective," Curt Johansen, Lagoon Valley, LLC Development Director, said. "We want people who like that kind of living. We want people who enjoy the outdoors and respect it, and help take care of it because we're creating a place that's pretty special, so we want people to treat it that way. The idea is if you're living around nature, you'll treat it well."
Johansen said leaving an open space will take some of the weight off non-profits who are striving to protect land across the area.
"There's only so much money to go around to permanently protect important land," Johansen said. "When you are included in a community design and planning that creates, in our case 1300 acres of protected lands, that takes a lot of pressure off having to go find open space and raise the capital to forever protect it in other places."
The walkable community will lower carbon emissions by eliminating the need for a lot driving. Each building is required to incorporate solar power and there's an option of all homeowners to use reclaimed water, cutting their potable water consumption in half. There's also a plan for extensive flood protection for property owners who live downstream. Water can be detained on site, creating a solution for a historical problem.
The goal is to build 200 homes per year over five years with 1,000 homes in total. The model homes should be viewable in Spring of 2023 with homeowners moving in the following summer.
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