Sterling Ranch, located on Vollmer Road about 2 miles from Black Forest Road, has been at least 12 years in the making. Plans date back to 2008.Erin Ganaway is a planner with N.E.S. Inc, a landscape architecture firm that has been involved with Sterling Ranch since its inception. Ganaway said there are three factors that delayed development. The first is funding. The second is demand: In 2007-2009, a recession and the housing bubble put everything on the back burner. The third factor is process. It takes several years to get from raw land with no layout to approval for building, especially with large tracts of land such as Sterling Ranch, Ganaway said.At total build-out, Sterling Ranch will have 5,225 lots on 1,444 acres; however, there is no timetable. It all depends on the demand for the lots. Sterling Ranch is divided into two sections, Homestead and Branding Iron, but there is no distinct division between the two. Both sections are designed to be developed together as one community.As of mid-August, 299 lots had been sold to builders. The number of lots sold to a builder is dependent on demand for housing. The lots already sold have finished homes or homes under construction.Currently, there are three well-known builders involved in selling lots and building houses in Sterling Ranch: Challenger Homes, Classic Homes and Vantage Homes.Sterling Metropolitan District has an agreement with Meridian Metropolitan District that allows Sterling Ranch to use part of Meridian’s share of wastewater treatment at Cherokee Metropolitan District’s wastewater treatment plant. Sterling Metropolitan also supplies water to the subdivision through its own wells. Black Forest Fire Rescue is responsible for Sterling Ranch. Sterling Ranch is located in two school districts, Falcon School District 49 and Academy School District 20.A 30-acre community park is planned as well as 18 acres of individual neighborhood parks and 57 acres of open space and greenways, including trails. When they reach build-out, there will be 50 acres of commercial space.In the near future, there will be easier access to Sterling Ranch with the planned extensions of Marksheffel Road and Briargate Parkway.
