Quiet Creek Park can’t sell lots until developer Tony Neal either signs a subdivision agreement or completes road and utility work. Neal said he’s going to wait until he gets all his work done to write sales contracts. Potential buyers can lock in site selection now, though, by buying a $1,000, fully refundable option to buy — what Neal calls a reservation. All lots have been staked out.

“They’re buying pick of the litter,” he said.

Of 87 lots offered, Neal has reservations on 60, all done without advertising and through word of mouth. When the lots can legally be sold, option holders get a sale offer and price, and can accept or reject the offer.

Sunset Views, originally known as the Foothills Subdivision, won’t offer lots for sale. Brothers and partners Leroy L., Tim, Larry and Jeff Cabana specialize in building subdivisions, not selling lots. Some houses will be built on speculation. Buyers interested in a particular lot or house design might be able to work with the developers, Leroy Cabana said.

“If the style of the house is something that fits in, we’ll build to their specifications,” he said.

Stream Hill Park was named after a town Lehner and Taffe visited on a trip to Ireland, an area with unusual — for Ireland — stands of trees. It reserves 30 acres for open space and 15 acres for future development of an educational center. On the remaining 35 acres, 76 lots from one-quarter to one-half acre will be developed. Phase one has five one-quarter acre lots, 10 one-third acre lots and 15 half-acre lots. Prices range from $78,000 to $135,000. The open space is set aside as common interest ownership, a legal way to answer the question of “How do we know you’re not going to develop it?” said Taffe. The green space preserves large stands of birch and spruce, and includes trails. There also is a fenced dog park in the inside of a future road — “Doggy Loop Park,” Lehner calls its.

Amenities like large tracts of green space and trails are part of their vision, Taffe said. People who have environmental values also can be developers and balance those values with business, he said

“It’s not an either-or choice,” Taffe said. “It’s one thing to wag your finger and tell them what they should do. It’s another thing to lead by example.”

Stream Hill Park will have strict covenants, including an architectural review committee. Homes have a low minimum footprint of 500-square-feet — and a low maximum of 3,500-square-feet, so families can build small and expand later, but not build McMansions, or grandiose, large houses. Design codes also have limitations like split-rail fences with see-through galvanized fencing. Covenants also will protect view sheds. A meadow area limits home design to the Craftsman style.

“We want it to look like a neighborhood,” Taffe said of the general design concept.

Quiet Creek Park offers similar size lots, from one-quarter to one-third acre, Neal said. Prices will range from $60,000 to $90,000. When it went through the Homer Advisory Planning Commission, neighbors raised objections about access through the west side and about wetlands. Connection to roads to the west won’t happen until the city resolves issues about extending Heath Street up to the west side of Quiet Creek Park. The subdivision’s initial access is through Nelson Avenue and Ronda Street, Neal said.

Neal has had a wetlands determination done and is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on getting permits. He said that process is proceeding fine. According to his study, the amount of wetlands is less than subdivision opponents suggested at planning commission hearings last winter.

“The aggregate amount of wetlands is far, far less than discussed in those days,” he said.

Neal said Quiet Creek Park includes six parks as well as trails, with one park a playground.

Cabana also is proceeding with Corps of Engineers and other environmental permits, he said.

“As far as a I know, we’re squared away with those guys,” he said.

Cabana said the 90-lot subdivision will be built in four phases, with 30 lots to be built in the first phase. Sunset Views expects to take five years to develop each phase, with no more than five to seven lots developed a year.

“We don’t have a big desire to develop all the lots and sell them as quick as we can. We see Homer as a long-term investment place,” Cabana said.

Sunset Views hasn’t set any lot prices yet, but will include lot prices as part of the home sale price, Cabana said.

With its proximity to West Homer Elementary School, Sunset Views plans pedestrian walkways — a sticking point in an early plat proposal.

“We’re definitely trying to provide reasonable pedestrian access down to the school and downhill,” he said.

For more information on Stream Hill Park, contact Greeley at 235-6996 or visit her office on Ohlson Lane near Bishop’s Beach. For information on Quiet Creek Park, contact Neal at 235-8141 or visit his office on West Pioneer Avenue near the Sterling Highway end. The Cabanas are not ready to market their project, Leroy Cabana said.