Land design before development
Abaco Land
Our goal is small quiet livable residential communities sited
in nature.
Our approach is to define a project with land design and then
to let a potential community evolve.
The land design fixes the direction a project will take and the
type of community it will become.
The land design creates the zoning, road and path reservations,
beach access, provisions for infrastructure and utility easements, and the CC&Rs.
The Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions ( CC&Rs), in
turn establish restrictions on usage, behavior and technology.
To employ a computer analogy, we use an opens systems approach.;
our land design defines the nature of the community and the buyer adds acceptable
components, such as houses.
This land design approach will chase off some buyers but it will
also attract other buyers who want the type of community we have designed.
Cabbage Point Beach Colony is our first Abaconian community. Our second attempt
will be at Greenland Bay, a wilderness beach community sited in the remote dunes
of SE Abaco.
Cabbage Point. Click here for larger image.
Location: Cabbage Point Beach Colony is located on Abaco Island midway between the Treasure Cay and Marsh Harbour airports. Its shore frontage faces toward Guana Cay and Whale Cay, approx. five miles to the north and also the coast of the Abaco Mainland towards the southeast. By sea, Treasure Cay is only 4 miles away but it is 10 miles by the highway. Marsh Harbour, the commercial center of the island, is 13 miles down the paved highway to the southeast ( 20 minutes at 40 mph).
Recent history: the present owner homesteaded Cabbage Point in 1958. The ruins of his stone house still rest on the sea ridge overlooking Cabbage Cove. Now, the original homesteader is offering selected parcels of land for sale to like minded folk, who endorse the development philosophy and appreciate the minimalist offering.
Philosophy: At CPBC, land design is consciously used to favor nature over development, the past over the present, , small over large and quiet over noise.
CPBC is an alternative form of development in many ways,. Its beaches are common access. Motorized vehicles are restricted (but still allowed ). Many currently popular behaviors are prohibited (i.e. jet skiing and driving around in motorized vehicles, playing loud music, setting off fireworks, hunting) as are common commercial situations (i.e bars, restaurants, marinas and most commercial enterprises).
It is our intention to provide an alternative to what is generally available on Abaco.. Having been around Abaco for over 40 years now, we are frankly suspicious of what has been passed off as "progress".
On the other hand, we are not Luddites in that we appreciate on demand electricity, running water and Internet access. We want the best and to avoid the worst of both worlds.
Offering: CPBC offers designed but undeveloped land.
It is designed in that road reservations, utility easements, guaranteed access to beaches, zoning and CC&Rs are in place.
It is undeveloped in that there are few physical improvements. For example there are no marinas , club houses, pools, paved roads, hotels, restaurants, bars. There is no band playing pop music or jet skis or motorized vehicles (other than owners' cars on private driveways). So far there aren't even any houses except for the ruins of the original homestead. .
What is offered is quiet and natural beauty with trade winds blowing on the
shore.
As far as is possible, given the inevitable residential compromises, our goal
is to keep Cabbage Point much as it is.
Access: Access will be limited to owners and their guests. There will be a
heavy duty chain or gate across the main access road, at the highway, 2000 feet
south of the shore.
Utilities: utilities are nearby and the land design provides for their
introduction.
Power: Currently there is on line power at the highway at the intersect of the Cabbage Point access road. Utility easements are in place. The developer, from the proceeds of the sale of the first shorefront lot, will pay the cost of bringing BEC power to that house site. After that, power line extensions can be negotiated between other buyers and the utility company (BEC) at lot owners' expense. Generators are restricted to a back up role by CC&Rs so as to avoid endemic noise pollution.
Water: Three high capacity wells and their well reserve areas have been established to satisfy the long term water needs of CPBC. Water line easements are in place. Eventually, these wells will be the foundation of a community water system funded by the buyers. Meanwhile, there is water of lesser quality and quantity available through wells created by the buyers.
Telephone: cell phones work now from CPBC and land lines are expected to follow but there is no ETA. Telephone line easements are in place.
Fiber optic cable: A new fiber optic cable has been installed along the highway. What this means we are not sure but we suspect cable television and high speed ISP service are immanent. Cable easements are in place.
Roads and paths: a network of rough roads and paths have been constructed on surveyed road reservations to provide access to the residential parcels and the beaches.
Other than the main access road , the roads at CPBC are intentionally designed to be on the small side. They are frankly modeled after the roads at Man-o-War Cay. They are designed for humans and not cars.
Walkers are preferred .but bicycles and golf carts are acceptable. In general, motorized vehicles are second class citizens at CPBC. Owners may drive to their homes but, as at Cherokee Sound, visitors are requested to leave their cars in a parking lot and hoof it. CPBC is for walkers and every part of it can be walked to in a few minutes.
Boats: Owners must dock their motorized boats elsewhere, such as nearby Leisure Lee, but provision will be made for human powered and wind powered small boats (rowboats, dinghies, canoes kayaks, sunfish. etc.) to be pulled up and stored behind the leeward beaches. Motorized skiffs on trailers may be kept at CPBC but they must be screened from the access roads.
Bars and restaurants: Bars and restaurants are prohibited at CPBC but available nearby. The Lazy Parrot Restaurant is located only 7 miles to the southeast and Hudson's, Abaco Boil and A Touch of Class restaurants are located about 5 miles to the northwest. A little further on is Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay.
Elevated Structures: For reason of hurricane tides, the first floors of residences are required to be elevated 12 feet above the mean high water mark. The Florida Keys Building Code is suggested as a guide. Various types of elevated structures are acceptable. Pole houses are suggested as the most economical and practical method of meeting the requirement. Note: Structures built in the nearby area without attention to these guidelines have suffered unnecessary and pr4edictable damage during recent hurricanes.
Setbacks: Beach front lots have set backs so as to allow access to and use of the beaches by all lot owners in the community.
View Corridors: There will be height restriction on waterfront structures and they will be required to have hip roofs to protect the sea views from interior lots.
Architectural Features: Hip roofs and earth tone colors are preferred. In general, smaller houses are preferred to larger ones. Storage and parking areas shall be screened.
Re-subdivision: There will be a restriction against re-subdividing lots after they are purchased from present owner.
Secondary Residential Structures: In addition to a main house, only one residential cottage (no larger than 600 square feet) will be allowed on each lot. A supplemental house may not be sold separately from the lot's main residence
Building Supplies: Both Standard Hardware and Abaco Hardware will deliver to site.
Key:: orange = roads and paths; blue = common beaches and waterfront parks.
CONTACT: peterodgers97034@yahoo.com
www.countryhomesteads.com = Owner's web site for one of his Pacific Northwest properties.