The developer of the proposed 38-lot Melcon Farm community in Mandarin says he hired an archaeologist to investigate the history of the property and contact those interested in the potential preservation of an 1800s-era house on the site.
Michael Danhour, president of Jacksonville-based Danhour Group LLC , plans to develop the single-family community between Cattail Drive South and Hagan Grant Lane.
Property records show two single-family homes on the property. One is a split-level home of 1,360 square feet, built in 1877, and the second is a split-level home of 2,960 square feet, built in 1976.
Danhour said April 11 he is offering to relocate the older, potentially historic home on the site or donate it to the city or Mandarin Museum & Historical Society. He said the home is in fair condition for its age and was altered and expanded over time.
The home exterior will require extensive repairs to the foundation, roof and siding. “Our intent is to work with the community to determine the best path forward, should they desire its preservation,” he said.
Danhour said he submitted corrections to the city rezoning application changing the name from Macron Farms to Melcon Farm and revised the proposed number of lots from 37 to 38.
He said the name of the development comes from previous owners of the property and “given the nature and history of the parcel, we felt keeping the name was not only homage, but would also help to maintain the flavor the project was working to capture.”
“My aim with this project was first and foremost to keep the feel of the immediate area, and not try to push density. So, instead of trying to put in 60- or 70-foot-lots to try get more yield, we decided to go with 80-foot lots and have less yield,” he said.
“We also designed the site so the lots are much longer, minimum 120 feet and maximums in excess of 200 feet. This means much larger lots that are not only more consistent with the size of neighboring properties, but will allow for greater screening and buffering for the adjacent owners, especially the RR-Acre zoning to the south and east,” he said.
The developer plans to begin horizontal construction by the first quarter of 2021, according to the application.
The property owner, the Weihnacht Revocable Family Living Trust, filed an application with the Jacksonville Planning and Development Department to rezone the 17.04-acre property from residential rural-acre to planned unit development for 38 lots of a minimum of 80 feet wide and 9,600 square feet.
The property is bordered by The Wilderness PUD subdivision to the west; the Cormorant Landing subdivision to the north; and land zoned for single-family residential rural-acre to the south and east.
The future land use designation for the property and all surrounding properties is low density residential.
A conceptual site plan submitted with the rezoning application shows a single access road from O’Connor Road. Buffers from adjacent properties are proposed and portions of the property will have either an 8-foot-tall perimeter fence or a landscape buffer.
Jacksonville-based Almond Engineering is the civil engineer for the development.
The Danhour Group comprises a group of companies providing land development, housing rehabilitation, real estate brokerage and investment services throughout the Southeast U.S. and Hawaii. The group recently completed the 38-lot Creekside at Mandarin development on Losco Road.
