Village Grande Ecological Restoration and Green Infrastructure Implementation

Challenge

Typical of many communities with common open space, the maintenance committee for the Village Grande community in Lancaster County was looking sustainable alternatives to large expanses of high maintenance lawn areas. Stormwater drainage issues were driving up the cost of maintenance and the solutions lacked ecological benefits.

Solution

An open space management master plan was prepared to provide a guide with specific priorities and planting strategies based on the existing conditions and the goal of improving aesthetics and reducing maintenance.   LandStudies staff, working with students and professors from Penn States Ag and Environment Center, helped facilitate multiple community visioning sessions and ultimately designed a plan that fits the needs of the residents.  The project resulted in over 6 acres of successional, native plant community establishment that includes:

• Upland meadow –Native wildflower and warm season grass meadow
• Bio-swale –installed through a grant administered by East Hempfield Township to reduce stormwater pollution
• Riparian buffer –management and planting
• Rain Garden –demonstration projects
• Basin retrofit –managed and enhanced an existing retention basin with planting on the edges and the berm to improve aesthetics and water quality

Services

Master Planning | Landscape Design & Installation | Maintenance | Community Outreach | Volunteer Planting Coordination

Client: Penn State University through a NFWF grant

Location: East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Pa.