Upon entering Florin Hill in Mount Joy, Lancaster County, it seems as if someone magically dropped homes, apartments and even retail space in the middle of a dreamy, bucolic small-town setting complete with a stream, ponds, wildlife, and lush greenways and trees.
The magic was conjured up by Charter Homes and Neighborhoods, which has been developing its mixed-use Florin Hill community since 2004. The Central Pennsylvania homebuilder and neighborhood visionary was honored last month for its knack for maintaining natural beauty and features in Florin Hill. 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, a statewide voice for great places to live and work, awarded Charter its 2009 Commonwealth Award as the best example of smart growth in the state.
“Florin Hill has all kinds of quirky things that make it feel like it’s been there forever, not just something simply done by engineers and attorneys and taken through normal course of the subdivision process,” says Charter CEO Rob Bowman.
Bowman credited municipal leadership in Mount Joy and nearby landowners for working closely with Charter for 18 months prior to groundbreaking to make sure Florin Hill, one of more than 20 neighborhoods Charter has under development in Central Pennsylvania, was something special. That included plans that extended the original street grid.
Bowman says homebuyers are looking for alternatives to more traditional subdivisions, and Charter has another in Florin Hill, which will have a mixed-use area called Main Street West that will boast shops and offices. Florin Commons provides a significant open space in the center of the neighborhood.
“The borough has a tremendous identity and people have a real interest in maintaining its place,” says Bowman.
Source: Rob Bowman, Charter Homes and Neighborhoods
Writer: Joe Petrucci