The view from a home into the conservation easement along scenicWalnut Creek.
Figure 3: The red corridors are permanent trailway easements providing access to the conservation easement along both sides of Walnut Creek.
line provides vehicular access to four narrow alleys that service the backside of the homes (see Figure 2). The front of the homes and their traditional porches look onto the various neighborhood commons — the largest being approximately one-quarter of an acre in size. These commons are linked together with interconnected sidewalks, which combined with the porches on each home, create a sense of community and fosters social interactions between neighbors. Rural neighborhood Rural subdivisions can also effectively incorporate open space into their site plans, but often must be handled differently than suburban residential developments. Most homebuyers purchasing homes in ru- ral subdivisions expect to have a larger tract of land for their home. Shrinking lot sizes and converting that to open space (as was shown in the suburban case study) is often not a viable solution for rural devel- opments. So, how can the site plan satisfy larger lot sizes but still in- corporate open space features that can become a marketing advantage? Walnut Creek Estates in unincorporated Woodford County, Ill., is a unique site plan that effectively preserves and incorporates open space features throughout its design. All lots within the development meet the minimum required lot size of 2.5 acres. The nine home sites, which were laid out with the sites’ topography carefully in mind, all have re- quired frontage onto Mount Zion Road. For marketing purposes, each lot also has frontage onto scenic Walnut Creek, thus creating “double flag” lots of irregular shapes. Vehicular access to homes occurs either by the Mount Zion Road frontage or by two shared driveways (see Figure 3). Open-space elements include a five-acre conservation easement on each side of Walnut Creek, and three-quarters of a mile of 10- to 20-foot-wide trailway easements that provide direct access to Walnut
Creek. Carefully written language in the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions cover both the trailway and conservation easements to ensure they exist in perpetuity with no development of any kind occur- ring in them. Mown pathways within the trailway easements provide a low-cost solution for the trailway infrastructure. Conclusion There are a wide variety of options to effectively incorporate open space into residential developments to create more livable commu- nities that are unique in the marketplace. In addition to the distinct marketing advantage these communities have, they also provide the developer with faster sales velocities, which leads to reduced overall carrying costs. The use of open space can also lead to significant costs savings by reducing overall infrastructure costs. Creation of new residential neighborhoods that successfully incorpo- rate open space requires a builder/developer who understands, or is willing to understand, the strong marketing advantages this type of development can provide in an ever-competitive real estate market. It also requires the builder/developer to rethink existing marketing strate- gies that traditionally focus just on marketing the interior spaces of the homes. A better strategy is to focus both on the interior of the homes and the thoughtful organization of streets, private lots, and open spaces, which turn an ordinary development into a charming, memorable, and highly marketable neighborhood. JEFF MARTIN, PLA , is landscape architectural manager for Farnsworth Group (www.f-w.com) and an award-winning land planner who has been design- ing highly creative, successful, and marketable residential and mixed-use developments throughout the Midwest and Upper Midwest for more than 25 years. Examples shown in this article are his designs. His clients have included national homebuilders, local developers/builders, institutions, real estate brokers, and private property owners. He is highly skilled at creating successful neighborhoods that have a sense of place and stand apart in the marketplace. Contact Martin at jmartin@f-w.com.
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csengineermag.com
march 2018
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