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Trailblazing on tip-toe

At Harrison West, Wagner Homes leads the way in environmentally smart development

BY JULIA VERSAU
Special to the Times

Development is often viewed as a double-edged sword. While building provides homes for families or facilities for business, the trade-off is usually a loss of open space and vegetation, as well as impacts on stormwater runoff and ecosystems that must be mitigated. People with an interest in what's being developed in their communities are forced into one of two opposing camps: the group that knows growth is economically healthy and the group that fights development at all costs.

But is there a third way? Is it possible for a developer to simultaneously build a house and hug a tree? Wagner Homes proved it can be done in a neighborhood called Harrison West in Valparaiso. The State of Indiana recognized the innovative new community when it handed out Governor's Awards for Environmental Excellence in 2003, citing the sustainable, environmentally sensitive development as an example of building practices that make good sense.

Interestingly, it is often builders and developers who lead the way to smarter growth. When it comes to the kind of cutting-edge experimentation that creates environmentally superior techniques and technologies, zoning and building laws regularly "get in the way," cementing in place the same old ways of doing things. At Harrison West, nearly every innovative technique applauded by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management required a deviation from standard practice and a special dispensation from authorities.

Smarter Land Use

Wagner Homes knew it had something unique when it set out to build on a 60-acre parcel of wooded, rolling terrain on Valparaiso's northwest side. Rather than level the land, the company planned a neighborhood of 50 single family homes that would leave ample open space, preserve mature trees, and protect habitat.

Normally, a dense development of many more houses would be built on the site, making preservation of trees and fauna impossible and creating the usual stormwater headaches. When a parcel is packed to its limit, structures and pavement must cover so much surface area that rainwater has no place to go and protection of any natural features is impossible.

According to Jake Wagner, president of Wagner Homes, Harrison West provided a perfect opportunity to show that innovative environmental techniques existed to bring building and nature into a new kind of harmony.

"Our strategy involved synchronizing two priorities," Wagner said. "We wanted to create a beautiful community in which people would want to live, and we wanted to protect the features of the site that made it beautiful in the first place. We had to trail-blaze some new territory to do it, but the payoffs are well worth it."

Unique Features

The trailblazing was definitely on tip-toe: to preserve soil and save trees, the trailblazing was the soft-glove type. It involved bypassing many of the usual building requirements. For example, developments of this kind are normally required to have wider roadways, sidewalks on both sides of streets, solid surface roadways, and hard curbs. Wagner Homes staffers met with local officials to make adjustments. In order to reduce impervious surfaces and accommodate innovative stormwater management, sidewalks were installed on just one side of streets, road widths were reduced to 50 feet to allow more land for ecological swales and diverters, portions of the roadways were constructed of paver systems to allow water to permeate and percolate into the soil below, and soft ribbon curbs were installed to direct water to filter strips.

At Harrison West, there's no huge retention pond to collect all the water that would normally sink into the soil, nourish flora and fauna, and replenish aquifers. Unsightly and potentially unhealthy, retention basins are the usual method of giving all the water a place to go when development has covered the soil with rock-solid pavement.

According to Gary Green, project manager for Wagner Homes, many of the techniques employed at Harrison West are common sense solutions, and not so new as simply forgotten.

"Farmers and large land holders have used these techniques for centuries," Green explained. "Things like providing soil for water absorption and preserving vegetation that drinks it up are age-old tactics. They just fell out of favor as the densities of many developments grew."

Counting Trees

Wagner Homes went even farther. If there wasn't a lot of time for actually hugging trees, at least they were counted and recorded on a preservation plan.

Harrison West remains a lovely wooded retreat because the developer saved mature trees from the bulldozer, and even changed home lot lines when necessary to preserve not only trees but the habitat and hydrology systems that nourish them.

A stunning six-acre wooded ravine was also mapped out as important open space.

With abundant trees, plants, and wildlife, this section of the property is now a Preserve Area with groomed walking paths and an observation deck. The natural beauty of the preserve was one of the original impetuses for creating a low-impact development at Harrison West.

"We didn't want to disturb this area," Green said. "When we first saw it, we knew we would have to do something unique. In this case, the land itself helped create the final development." In addition, topsoil stripped off during preparation of the property was stored until final grading was complete, then replaced and graded with a minimum of compaction to improve percolation and plant growth. The preservation of trees, plants, and topsoil help to improve air quality and protect topsoil from erosion. All open spaces have a cover crop to prevent water and wind erosion and provide additional habitat for birds, insects, and other animals.

The Big Picture

The awards received by Wagner Homes - from IDEM as well as the American Society of Landscape Architects - acknowledge the creativity, innovation, and accomplishment of goals at Harrison West. In the big picture, smarter ways of developing land and building homes will be achieved one Harrison West at a time.

"People are extremely concerned about air quality, water quality, and the preservation of open space," Green said. "As developers and builders, we want to ensure our communities remain healthy and attractive places to live. At Wagner Homes, we think innovation like this isn't just an award-winning idea, but hopefully, the wave of the future."

[EXTRAS]

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about Wagner Homes and Harrison West, visit www.wagnerhomes.com or www.h-west.com. The web sites provide more details about Wagner Homes and the Harrison West community, as well as links to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management web site.

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