240-unit home complex nears fruition on 250

The path finally might be clear for a 240-unit manufactured home complex to open off U.S. 250 near Staunton.

Augusta County planning officials are scheduled Tuesday to vote on the Augusta Woods Manufactured Home Park.

The project had been delayed for years while an access road of just over a half-mile leading from the entrance to the Frontier Culture Museum could be built.

Developer Raymond Eavers said the project has five phases, including the first phase of 48 lots.

It could take several years to finish the work, Eavers said.

Eavers hopes to begin renting and selling units this fall. He said the current recession makes business more of a task.

“We missed the timing by three years, but I think the economy will turn,’’ Eavers said. “We’ll pick up some rentals on people who have lost their homes. It looks better than it did six months ago.”

Eavers said the manufactured homes would range in size from 900 to 2,000 square feet.

The Augusta Woods site covers 86 acres behind Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant and east of Interstate 81.

Eavers said plans call for two recreation areas. Those areas would include a walking and bike trail, a picnic shelter, horseshoe pits and a basketball goal.

Beverley Manor District Supervisor Jeremy Shifflett said Augusta Woods is compatible with an adjacent manufactured home park.

“The project jibes with an urban service area and with the existing development east,’’ Shifflett said.

Dale Cobb, director of community development for Augusta County, said Eavers has addressed county concerns about the project.

The county Planning Commission is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Augusta County Government Center in Verona.