A move to pacify worried home owners

Home builder Sam Head announced at last night’s Walhalla City Council that he’s willing to downsize his Chestnut project to 10 homes only, and promised to return to city council with deed restrictions next month to back up the promise. As a result, the city council took no vote on a required zoning change. Not everyone was on board. There was an expression from a neighbor for there to be finally a vote on the project that has been debated for months. Developer Head told the council and the audience there’s a bigger picture involved, and that’s how Walhalla is going to meet the demand for new housing in the city. The project that Head and Season’s Builders have in mind for a couple of blocks along Tyre B. Mauldin is similar to the successful small home Park View development on the north side of the city near the swimming pool. Just yesterday, the developer said, lots were sold to a Walhallan and to a resident of Vermont. Some affected neighbors are concerned that as many as 25 or more homes on two and a half acres will mean crowding and traffic issues for a neighborhood known for large homes on larger lots. Head last night, however, promised reducing to 10 the number of homes would mean that each one would occupy a lot of one-quarter of an acre.