Copyright 2000 The Pantagraph

SECTION: News; Pg. A1

LENGTH: 1261 words

HEADLINE: Ouality vs. cost; As the Normal City Council plans to vote on a proposed development Monday, officials have visited a similar subdivision to compare

BYLINE: MARY ANN FORD

BODY:
NEW BERLIN - Like many newlyweds, Corey and Tina DeRosear wanted to begin their life together in a house.

They were tired of apartment living and Tina wanted to move closer to her family in New Berlin, a small town just west of Springfield. Besides, a house would be more conducive to raising a family, another of the young couple's dreams.

While Corey DeRosear leaned toward buying an older house, his wife liked the new ones in Windrow subdivision on the edge of town where her brother and his family lived.

Windrow was developed by St. Agnes Co. of Springfield, the same company that hopes to build Savannah Green, a traditional neighborhood, on land on the east edge of the former Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School site in Normal.

The proposal was unanimously recommended earlier this month by the Normal Planning Commission but not without controversy. Established neighbors in the area offered a litany of reasons why the subdivision shouldn't be built, ranging from typical worries about density, traffic and lowered property values, to more obscure concerns like one that the alleys proposed for Savanna Green would attract gangs and drug dealers.

One commission member said anonymous mailings hinted that developments by St. Agnes were not built to high standards - a charge that town officials found groundless after a visit to New Berlin.

The city council will vote on the matter Monday night.

While the New Berlin subdivision, called Windrow, isn't a "traditional neighborhood" with detached rear garages and alleys like the one proposed in Normal, both offer affordable homes. Those in Savannah Green will range from about $93,000 to $140,000. Plans call for 313 single-family houses and 56 townhouses on the slightly more than 70 acres.

Houses in Windrow cost between $62,000 and $116,000.

A Pantagraph tour of the subdivision backed up the assessment of town staff: the homes are relatively cheap, simple but appear to be solidly built.

The DeRosears' home is typical. They found a one-story, three-bedroom residence with a full basement and attached one-car garage for $89,900. Monthly payments are about what they paid for an apartment in Springfield, where the two work.

A month after they got married, they moved in. A carpenter by trade, Corey was impressed with the workmanship in the house. "We have a year to have things fixed," he said.

Other than two relatively minor problems - placement of the water heater, which St. Agnes moved, and the need for more fill for the backyard - the couple is happy with the house. "Overall, it's really good. We like it," he said. "It was a way that we could get in a house."

The house has a small front porch, a cathedral ceiling in the living room, an eat-in kitchen and a concrete slab deck in back. The lot is small but offers a front and a back yard. It has name-brand windows and central air conditioning.

They opted to plant grass seed rather than pay extra for sod. The Springfield area had a bad drought earlier this year and issued a watering ban so they haven't been able to develop their yard. But it is green - thanks to the crab grass.

Few frills came with the house. For example, there was only a dishwasher in the kitchen. The couple had to supply the refrigerator and stove and window coverings.

The three bedrooms are small, but give the DeRosears space for their immediate needs. One could easily become a nursery. Right now it's home to their parakeet. They also plan to finish the basement, where the walls came studded and ready for drywall. The plumbing also is roughed in for a basement bathroom.

The story is similar for the DeRosear's neighbors.

Nick Rathgeb lives down the street with his wife, Alicia, and their two children, Anna, 2, and Benjamin, 6 months.

The two-story, $100,000 house is the first the family has owned. The couple likes it because there's room for Anna to run - unlike in their apartment.

Rathgeb, who builds foundations, said he's had some minor plumbing problems and when they first moved in they discovered a nail had gone through a pipe, causing water in the basement. But, he said, St. Agnes and Construx of Illinois, the architectural and construction firm, "fixed it right away."

During the nine months that family has lived in the house, they've planted flowers and have maintained the sod, making the house quite a showpiece where the road curves through the subdivision.

Nick said his house has amenities that houses in the older part of the subdivision don't have including eaves and a better roof.

Roofs have been a problem for several of the older homes in the subdivision. Many of the blue roofs were damaged during a May storm. One resident, who asked that her name not be used, said some insurance companies suggested the damage was a combination of poor quality shingles and the storm.

Her insurance company repaired her roof, which only sustained minor damage, without any problems, she said. Other residents negotiated settlement with either Construx or insurance companies, she said.

Mike Suhadolnik, owner of St. Agnes, said a higher quality roof is being used on homes in the newer section of the subdivision and for replacements in the older section.

Programs for first-time home buyers have helped make that possible, he said, by making more money available. As a result, people can pay more for a home, and St. Agnes can afford to offer higher grades of materials.

"We've upgraded as time has gone by," Suhadolnik said. Further upgrades are planned at Normal's Savannah Green, he added, including the type of siding and windows used.

Unlike the DeRosears and the Rathgebs, Bill Hunter has a slightly different story about his house.

"Our sump pump runs a lot, but the water table is high here," he said. "The roofs are cheap...he must have gotten a hell of a deal. I think they built these the cheapest and quickest they could."

Ironically, Hunter was one of those helping Construx in the early years of the subdivision - as a non-union painter.

Hunter said when his family moved to New Berlin for his wife's new job three years ago, they started looking for a house. When they went to St. Agnes, he also found a job.

"I only made $10 an hour," he said, "and 47 1/2 hour weeks and 10 hour days were required." Hunter now is a union painter, making "triple what I did then."

His $89,900, two-story house has three bedrooms, a full basement and a two-car attached garage. It's built with metal studs, as were all the original homes. The newer homes in the subdivision, like the DeRosear's, have wood studs, as will the homes in Normal, Suhadolnik said.

Despite his overall assessment, Hunter said the only real problem he's had with his house is a leaky window. He also said the company used "cheap paint" on the inside of the house. He's repainted every room and added wallpaper borders.

He's also added a back deck and fenced in part of his yard.

"These homes are maybe a step up from a trailer park," Hunter said. "The houses he's building now (in the newer part) are more stable."

Suhadolnik said those newer houses are closer to the type that will be offered on the low end at Savannah Green. The New Berlin subdivision doesn't have the higher-end home that also would be built in Normal.

He said the Normal development also will offer a better grade of carpeting, paint, windows, siding and shingles, because he will be purchasing the items in such bulk that he will get a better price.

GRAPHIC: Windro subdivision neighbors and friends Stephanie Gilmore, left, Jennie Harris and Elizabeth forbes, right, sat atop the entrance sign to their dubdivision in New Berlin last week as they listened to high school football practice a few blcks away.

Tara Gilmore, Elizabeth Forbes and Stephanie Gilmore played basketball in the cul-de-sac of their neighborhood in the Windrow subdivision in New Berlin

Nick Rathgeb, helped his daughter Anna, 2, put on her shoes while sitting on the porch of their home in Windrow subdivision in New Berlin.

Corey DeRosear, who has only lived in the subdivision for three monthes with his wife, Tina, had lived in an apartment in Springfield but moved to New Berlin to buy a firs home.

LOAD-DATE: August 24, 2000