August 5, 2020August 8, 2020

Penn State Hershey Medical Center Stormwater Regulatory Compliance Support

Landscape Architecture | Stormwater Regulatory Compliance Support

Challenge

The facilities director for the Penn State Hershey Medical Center (PSHMC) campus was looking for more sustainable alternatives to manage large areas of open space and particularly challenging areas such as stormwater facilities and steep slopes. A land management master plan was prepared that identified sustainable landscape strategies that would reduce long term maintenance and improve bio-diversity and campus aesthetics. As part of this plan, LandStudies engineers and MS4 specialists developed a comprehensive study to address stormwater management and address their MS4 permit requirements with a campus wide stormwater management study.

Solution

LandStudies’ MS4 program specialists collaborated with PSHMC staff to complete requisite Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction plan documents and prepared an MS4 Permit waiver. Using the master plan as a guide, LandStudies provided native landscape design and installation services for the native planting, meadow seeding and maintenance strategies. Interpretive signage was developed to support ongoing regulatory compliance and provide education and outreach to Campus users. The results of the stormwater management study are intended to serve as a benchmark relative to current compliance with township and state stormwater management requirements, as well as to provide a basis for planning for future expansion needs.