English Village under the London Bridge
The English Village which is the property located under the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona is moving in the right direction which will revitalize the area.
English Village property owner Chris Read would have liked to attend Tuesday’s council meeting. After all, the fate of his multimillion-dollar real estate investment was on the line.
But according to Read’s representative, David Root, who spoke on his behalf, Read joined at least 560,000 people fleeing the raging wildfires engulfing Southern California and was unable to make it to Lake Havasu City for the meeting.
If it’s any consolation, the City Council endorsed Read’s request to change the land-use designation for the long-suffering English Village, allowing him to move forward with a planned mixed-use development.
Root read a statement from Read that urged approval of the change.
“The goal of Meritan, and I believe the majority of the residents of Lake Havasu, is to see this property developed into a year-round, sustainable, world-class resort destination that caters to both tourists and residents,” Root said. “We need to be smart. We need to develop a project that will bring back the tourists, that will attract the local people and will also be built in a way that is economically viable.”
Enough council members, five out of seven, agreed and voted in favor. Two, Dennis Schilling and Allan Sturtevant, voted no. The measure required a two-thirds council majority to pass.
Sturtevant argued vehemently against passage, saying he did not want to give Read free rein to develop up to 80 percent condominiums in the Village area, a move that would technically be feasible under the new land-use designation. Read should present his plans before he was given approval, Sturtevant said.
“Let the council see and discuss these plans,” he said. “Don’t keep them hidden.”
The majority view of the council was that the city would retain the ability to limit the nature of Read’s development at a later date, a view reinforced by statements by City Attorney Paul Lenkowsky and Development Services Director Larry Didion.
Had the measure failed, Read would have faced another year wait to receive the zoning he desires for the property. Vice Mayor Margaret Nyberg said that was too long to wait with the Village in its current condition.
“We need to get this area going,” she said. “I don’t want it to sit like this for another year.”
With the rule change in hand, Read has said the next step in his plan would be to finish conceptual plans for the project and apply for a zoning change to the property. The existing English Village buildings will be completely razed when the project is finally ready to begin, but they will remain standing until that point.
Read has erected steel fences around some of the dilapidated buildings on the property, in response to safety concerns by the city. He has also removed the dead trees and shrubs that gave the once-popular tourist attraction a sad, rundown appearance.
Another, much smaller development also secured approval from the council.
Located up the road from the Village, the small triangular plot measures less than .2 acres. Yet with its prime location overlooking the Bridgewater Channel, owner Leland McKinney is looking to turn the tiny parcel into his own mixed-use property. He sought a similar amendment as Read and received the same 5-2 vote in his favor. Story from the Today's News-Herald
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