A sign for the Country View Estates housing subdivision at the end of East Virginia Boulevard, Jamestown, is pictured. The city has sold two of the subdivision’s vacant lots in the past couple of weeks, prompting hope the remaining lots can be sold to boost new housing construction in Jamestown. P-J photo by John Whittaker

The sale of two lots from the city’s Country View Estates housing subdivision is prompting a new push to sell the remaining lots in the south side neighborhood.

The Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency approved the sale of the lots – one for $10,500 and the other for $15,000 – during a meeting Tuesday. Both sales are for the property’s assessed value set by the city assessor.

“We have in front of us some good news, great news, really,” said Mayor Kim Ecklund. “We have in front of us the sale of two lots in Country View estates. I know at one point in time we talked about reducing the price of these, but we are actually selling them at market value, which is really good news. … The great news is one of them is not a city resident, they’re moving into the city.”

Crystal Surdyk, city development director, said the sale is the third Country View Estates lot to be sold in the past few years. One home was completed in the subdivision in the last year or two, she said, after more than a decade with little interest in any of the lots. Ecklund said the city has received interest in two more lots, with one potential buyer more serious than the other.

“We went for a very long stretch without any new homes being built in the city,” Surdyk said. “We’ve seen a few in the last three or four years. It’s a good thing.”

Newly built homes are eligible for a 10-year property tax abatement. Homes built in Country View Estates have a timeline that has to be followed to get the needed building permits from the city and have a site plan approved, though those deadlines can be extended if the lot buyer is making progress on the projects. The homes can be manufactured, pre-fabricated homes, but have to meet city zoning and building codes such as having a basement and foundation.

“They’ve already got preliminary site plans,” Ecklund said. “When they came in they’re looking at lot sizes, they already have the idea of the size of house they want that would fit on that lot.”

There are still 17 or 18 lots in Country View Estates. Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, had proposed last year offering Country View Estates lots at a steep discount in an effort to close the books on the housing subdivision and attempt to boost new housing construction in the city.

Ecklund said Tuesday’s lot sales and the interest the city is seeing in additional lots are reasons to hold off on major discounts now, though she and Surdyk said some lots may be offered at discounted prices on a case-by-case basis. A couple of lots have been identified for discounted sales prices.

“At this point in time my personal thought is because we have these two sold at market value and we have a couple more interested, that we look at it on a lot-by-lot case,” Ecklund said. “If there are lots that she and her team feels are not as marketable as (lots) K and M, that we look at that lot in particular and look at reduction on that lot only. I personally would not be happy if I just paid market value and you come out with something that’s a lot less after we just approved these two.”

Tony Dolce, R-Ward 2 and City Council president, asked if there was going to be more marketing of Country View Estates given the renewed interest. Ecklund said the subdivision would be given better placement once a redesign of the city’s website is completed as well as additional marketing on social media before the city considers spending money to advertise the properties. Surdyk said there were additional marketing plans before the COVID-19 pandemic that are likely to resume soon, including new signs in the area and signs on individual lots that are available for purchase.

Dolce also asked if there were other areas in the city where new homes can be built.

“There’s really not a lot until we complete our zoning code update,” Surdyk replied. “If someone were to come to us with that as an idea, the favor that New York state did give us is that in their building code they identified mini homes as something that is allowed by New York state building code now. That just changed at the end of last year. Prior to that it would have been illegal to build something that would have been tiny house square footage. … Any opportunity that we have to do some infill where it makes sense, we want to be very smart and strategic about it. I would say that would be a case by case basis until the zoning code is completely updated.”