Pulte Homes Corporation, the nation’s largest home builder,

Pulte Homes Corporation, the nation’s largest home builder, is encountering entitlement problems with its first new urbanist project, Salamanca, a 160-acre traditional neighborhood development (TND) planned for West Kendall, Florida. Pulte’s petition for approval under the Dade County TND ordinance was rejected in early June by the Community Council, a group of appointed local residents who oppose Salamanca’s higher density and small, integrated parks. Tim Hernandez, vice president of land and marketing with the Southern Florida Division of Pulte Homes, says costs vary dramatically for different densities and Pulte “needs the extra density to make the TND work.” So far, the company has spent more than $1 million on the entitlement process “with nothing to show for it,” says Hernandez. Pulte Homes is appealing the decision to County Commission on July 29, 1999.