Stormwater facilities for new developments are generally required by code to treat and detain stormwater to at least pre-development conditions. In urban spaces, dense with paved and hard surfaces, it is imperative to treat stormwater to improve water quality and slow runoff. In many cases, storm facilities are viewed as a loss of developable land that cuts into your profit margins. Just because your engineering consultants are mandated to manage the water to a pre-development state, doesn’t mean your stormwater facilities have to look engineered! Storm facilities can actually be amenities that, when thoughtfully designed, will contribute to the visual quality of your development. Storm ponds can be beautiful first and yet still be functional and code compliant.

When planning your trail system, do the environmental constraints and permitting challenges bog you down?

When planning and designing for backcountry trails there are many constraints that one can encounter. These include unstable soils, stream and spring crossings, steep slopes, and critical areas, just to name a few. While being burdensome, there is always a solution and we should lean on our Federal Agencies to make your life easier and provide a solution.