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Westmoreland Conservation District Offers Low-Impact Development Workshop Dec. 4
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On December 4, the Westmoreland Conservation District is sponsoring a workshop “Saving Time & Money with Low-impact Development.”
Low-impact development is a way of designing a site so that the buildings, parking lots, roads and other manmade features fit into the natural shapes of the land. It’s an old idea -- farmers often did this when they built their barns into the slope of hillside – that’s becoming popular again, as more and more people realize its aesthetic, time-saving, and money-saving benefits. Topics and presenters include: -- A Developer’s Thoughts on the Cost and Time Savings of Adapting Your Project to the Land (instead of visa versa) – Kim Miller, president, Wolf Lake, Inc., a land-development firm
-- Growth Trends in Westmoreland County – Larry Larese, director, Westmoreland County Department of Planning & Development, and Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation
-- The Smart Growth Viewpoint: Traditional vs. Lower-impact Development – Alex Graziani, AICP, executive director, Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County
-- Go Green and Save on Your Bottom Line at the Same Time (a designer’s approach) – Chris Nix, certified professional in erosion and sediment control and civil engineer, R.A. Smith National
-- Avoiding Pitfalls in Working with Municipalities– Andy Blenko, PE, JD, planning and zoning director, North Huntingdon Township
-- Money-wise Stormwater Management – Westmoreland Conservation District Technical Staff.
The daylong event will also feature a hands-on visioning activity using smart growth principals in low-impact development. The cost is $40, and includes breakfast, lunch, and materials. Seating is limited and registration and pre-payment are required by November 25. Click here to downloadworkshop flyer and registration form or contact Christie Sebek, 724 837-5271, ext. 210, or send email to: christie@wcdpa.com. This photo shows an example of low-impact development at the GreenForge building on the Donohoe Road in Hempfield Township.
When parking spaces were added here, the conventional (high-impact) way would have been to cut out almost all of the slope. About 300 cubic yards of soil – 30 dump trucks full – would have been dug out and hauled away, and all the beautiful specimen trees growing on top of it would be gone. Losing all that earth and all those trees would have meant losing a lot of natural area where stormwater could infiltrate into the ground. Instead, a low-impact approach was used. Most of the slope was left right where it was and secured by installing two different kinds of concrete block walls. The blocks pictured include “planting pockets” – small areas of soil where stormwater can infiltrate and plants can be tucked in. Another benefit of this low-impact approach was saving money! By letting the ground and trees and plants do the work of managing stormwater, fewer curbs, gutters, inlets and pipes had to be installed. |
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11/9/2009 |
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