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The Cliffs at Mountain Park


gs3

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^^^This is NOT excellent news, it is terrible news. Jim Anthony is an idiot. All he does is go up to our mountains that used to be full of lush forest and just cuts down all the trees for the few wealthy to enjoy, so the general public can't. It is :sick: that Greenville County still allows this to continue up in the northern part of the county. Why can't Jim take his stupid developments and build them somewhere else like the desert. If you go up to the Cliffs Valley, there are some places where mountains used to be with only forests, but now the sides are half-way stripped of trees and there are houses built left and right. :angry:

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^^^This is NOT excellent news, it is terrible news. Jim Anthony is an idiot. All he does is go up to our mountains that used to be full of lush forest and just cuts down all the trees for the few wealthy to enjoy, so the general public can't. It is :sick: that Greenville County still allows this to continue up in the northern part of the county. Why can't Jim take his stupid developments and build them somewhere else like the desert. If you go up to the Cliffs Valley, there are some places where mountains used to be with only forests, but now the sides are half-way stripped of trees and there are houses built left and right. :angry:

Is this a joke?

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Shame on Jim Anthony and company for putting hundreds of acres in conservation easements around the Cliffs Developments. And shame on rich people for buying lots in the subdivisions so that they can enjoy the natural surroundings. And shame on the homeowners associations in these subdivisions for taking a strict stance against cutting down trees.

Seriously, if people really want to complain, then complain about the subdivisons where they take down EVERY tree before starting the build. Oh that's right, they would have to complain about their own subdivision most likely.

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^^^No, it's not a joke. I'm not the only one either. Just read the comments at the bottom of this article about Paris Mtn. and then you'll see what I mean: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...EWS01/701280331

I'm not sure why the malcontent comments that end up in the Greenville News matter. Quite frankly, there are more forests and preserved natural land in northwestern South Carolina than at any point in the last 100 years, if not longer.

Is the issue with wealthy people? Seriously, Jim Anthony is preserving land, and due to home ownership from those wealthy, there are greater incentives to maintain that land than there were before the various Cliff's developments came about.

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^^^This is NOT excellent news, it is terrible news. Jim Anthony is an idiot. All he does is go up to our mountains that used to be full of lush forest and just cuts down all the trees for the few wealthy to enjoy, so the general public can't. It is :sick: that Greenville County still allows this to continue up in the northern part of the county. Why can't Jim take his stupid developments and build them somewhere else like the desert. If you go up to the Cliffs Valley, there are some places where mountains used to be with only forests, but now the sides are half-way stripped of trees and there are houses built left and right. :angry:

Have you been to northern Greenville County lately, g-man? There is TONS of undeveloped land. In many places, it is quite scenic and untouched. Jim Anthony's developments are high quality, and obviously meet the desires of a lot of people given how successful his communities have been. They've contributed a great deal to Greenville's high-end real estate market. And by all accounts, he's a great guy who loves our area.

FYI, developers clear-cutting land and leaving little to no trees or natural resources occurs all over the country. The high-end market doesn't have a monopoly on this, either. I have seen plenty of lower-end "starter home" developments with no trees.

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Instead of building the Cliffs or cutting down every tree to build a sprawl-ville, why don't they just leave it alone and not build on it at all.

You are sounding completely illogical. As others have alreay stated, The Cliffs communities are not about "cutting down every tree" for any reason. These communities are a rare breath of fresh air in the residential real estate realm. They seek to promote and maximize true health and wellness by utilizing the natural geography and beauty found in this region of the World. If you find that offensive, you may want to consider moving to a South American jungle, where development is highly unlikely. I would say that our Blue Ridge mountain area is quite well preserved overall. The Jocassee Gorges is as good as it gets anywhere around the globe.

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Ok, then how is the public supposed to enjoy this area if the Cliffs keeps buying it all up and making it private and only for the wealthy. Is Thornblade gated? No, so why is the Cliffs?

I thought you didn't want to enjoy these "sprawl-ville," "stupid developments" anyway. Did I miss something? BTW, part of Thornblade is gated.

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I didn't say the Cliffs was a sprawl-ville. I said why can't they leave the forest alone instead of building a neighborhood like the Cliffs OR a sprawl-ville neighborhood. That part of Thornblade that is gated is a whole different neighborhood that only consists of like 10 homes.

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I didn't say the Cliffs was a sprawl-ville. I said why can't they leave the forest alone instead of building a neighborhood like the Cliffs OR a sprawl-ville neighborhood. That part of Thornblade that is gated is a whole different neighborhood that only consists of like 10 homes.

Thornblade is a very nice neighborhood (one that is easily worthy of being entirely gated, based on the homes there) - but it is a step below the Cliffs communities when you look at average home price. You will pay an average of $500-$700,000 (or more) for a house at Thornblade, but you are probably looking at over a million at The Cliffs.

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Ok, then how is the public supposed to enjoy this area if the Cliffs keeps buying it all up and making it private and only for the wealthy. Is Thornblade gated? No, so why is the Cliffs?

Why should the public enjoy it? Just because it is there? Should the public have the right to enjoy the Girl Scout Camp or the Boy Scout Camp, or the religious retreat centers, in northern Greenville County, just because they are there?

There are huge swafts of land in northern Greenville, Pickens, Spartanburg and Oconee counties, with large park lands set aside.

Based on lots of conservation judgments, there are more trees in that part of the state than at any point in the last hundred years, and wildlife populations: bears, deers, etc, are at healthy populations. There are no shortages of virtually empty parkland for folks to enjoy up that way.

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There are no shortages of virtually empty parkland CURRENTLY, but what about in 50 years? :whistling:

For anyone to really listen to you and you're ideas of conservation, I'd do 3 things:

1. Quit playing so many video games.

2. Quit calling people "idiots" that are changing our community from the comfort of your computer chair. If you took any initiative yourself, perhaps you could accomplish something.

3. Realize that Jim Anthony and the Cliffs communities have brought a LOT of investment in our area, securing jobs, preserving acres of privately owned wilderness, etc. Yes, the company has had a few things that have failed, or that could have been handled better, but he took a chance and it has paid off, and we have reaped some of the benefits.

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g-man, not sure what you have against the Cliffs developments, but these developments have benefited Greenville greatly and have actually helped protect the land. These developments are model examples of how to actually develop the land correctly. Would you have rather some mass builder like Ryan Homes develop the land and not only remove all the trees, but level all the moutains/hills as well?

If memory serves me correct, you were a volunteer for the BMW Pro-Am last year, so you too got a chance to enjoy the Cliffs. ;)

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g-man, not sure what you have against the Cliffs developments, but these developments have benefited Greenville greatly and have actually helped protect the land. These developments are model examples of how to actually develop the land correctly. Would you have rather some mass builder like Ryan Homes develop the land and not only remove all the trees, but level all the moutains/hills as well?

If memory serves me correct, you were a volunteer for the BMW Pro-Am last year, so you too got a chance to enjoy the Cliffs. ;)

Suprisingly enough, the last two Ryan homes subdivisions that I entered had a fair amount of trees.

It is harder to balance all of the factors that go into development than most people think. The price of the average house is already out of reach for the average family of 4. In order to build more economical housing, the land costs and site developments must be low. The easiest way to keep them low is to expand into new areas, stack track homes on top of each other, and grade the entire site. Then you have sprawl, water runoff problems, more traffic.

People who can afford it, have more options, and I think the Cliffs try to make a nice balance out of it. Driving through Glassy, I was amazed by the amount of property that is untouched. The home sites are clustered in areas, so that nature is preserved throughout the community.

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NO MORE GOLF COURSES! NO MORE MCMANSIONS! Bulldozing mature hardwood forests for these abominations? Let them be built over toxic waste sites. Tell Gary Player to go back to South Africa, if this is what he brings.

They aren't "bulldozing" anything...when you build a house at the Cliffs, you can remove no more trees than is necessary for the placement of the house itself. Jim Anthony and the rest have a vested interest in keeping the land as prisitine as possible--its what makes people pay 1 million for a lot in the first place.

As developments go, the Cliffs have always been very sensitive to the land.

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They aren't "bulldozing" anything...when you build a house at the Cliffs, you can remove no more trees than is necessary for the placement of the house itself. Jim Anthony and the rest have a vested interest in keeping the land as prisitine as possible--its what makes people pay 1 million for a lot in the first place.

As developments go, the Cliffs have always been very sensitive to the land.

You're exactly right. While working at a home in Cliffs Vineyards, we cut down a dead tree about 8" in diameter in order to deliver materials around the back of the house. Somehow, somebody noticed, and the builder got hit with a penalty from the development.

Of course, it's easier to spew out catchy words like "McMansions" rather than getting involved and making a difference.

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g-man, not sure what you have against the Cliffs developments, but these developments have benefited Greenville greatly and have actually helped protect the land. These developments are model examples of how to actually develop the land correctly. Would you have rather some mass builder like Ryan Homes develop the land and not only remove all the trees, but level all the moutains/hills as well?

If memory serves me correct, you were a volunteer for the BMW Pro-Am last year, so you too got a chance to enjoy the Cliffs. ;)

I've been a volunteer at the Cliffs Valley course the past six years and plan to be again this year.

I've been able to go behind the scenes at the Cliffs Valley course when I volunteer every year and I can tell you for a fact they do bulldoze trees, let silt run into creeks, and other things that are bad for the environment.

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I've been a volunteer at the Cliffs Valley course the past six years and plan to be again this year.

I've been able to go behind the scenes at the Cliffs Valley course when I volunteer every year and I can tell you for a fact they do bulldoze trees, let silt run into creeks, and other things that are bad for the environment.

Its inevitable that such things will happen with a development, but its to a far, far, far less degree that it happens at the Cliffs versus other "Tract" or retail developments.

At the Cliffs in Asheville, the houses must be painted certain colors so as to keep down "visual clutter" when viewed from the Parkway.

I know for a fact that builders get fined if their silt fences are breached in anyway, if a tree is unnecessarily removed, etc.

And I wouldnt call most of the houses there "McMansions" either. Most of them are well designed and well built of quality materials.

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