Midwestern Consulting

Edmonston, Maryland has a new green mainstreet

“Green Streets for All”

Edmonston, Maryland has redesigned their main street from a very wide, straight-as-a-stick bituminous roadway to a “complete street” that solves much of the local flooding problems with bio-retention. This system captures and treats the runoff from 90% of the storm events. 

At the same time, the redesign provides pedestrian access, bike lanes, bump outs and road alignment offsets.  Taking it one step further, they added wind powered LED street lighting and large shade trees.  To add icing to the cake, the website will allow downloading of free open-source design plans including cad files and plug-in, thus the title “Green Streets for All.”

Read more here.

Earl Ophoff is a registered landscape architect in Midwestern Consulting’s Ann Arbor, Michigan office.  You can reach Earl and talk to him about non-motorized pathways and green designs at 734.995.0200.

Water mains for fire suppression serving multiple buildings under the same ownership and on the same parcel can be designed to save money on expensive City of Ann Arbor tap, connection, and meter charges (see chart below).

Connection Charges for Fire Service Connections   (Effective 1/1/09)

A recent project included two hotels on one parcel.  Big money was saved on fees by eliminating one fire suppression tap.  Fire suppression was provided by extending the proposed 6” water line from one hotel to the other saving the owner $103,260.

A second project included three rental apartment buildings with a total of 896 bedrooms on one parcel. One 8” tap and a booster pump replaced three 8” taps reducing City fees by $406,880.

This concept can be used in the City of Ann Arbor where there are multiple buildings under the same ownership on a single parcel.  For example, a privately owned office park, a commercial or academic campus, or a retail center with multiple structures and tenants could be designed this way to save big money on tap, connection, and meter charges.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a registered landscape architect and senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Another example of a “development friendly-ier” Ann Arbor:

Ann Arbor Administrative Amendments (A4) to approved site plans permit increased building square footage of up to 10 percent of the approved floor area, or 10,000 square feet (sf), whichever is less.  An A4 is approved by staff, does not require a full site plan, Planning Commission, citizens participation, or City Council meetings. 

Larger additions or conversions of excess parking to building square footage can be done incrementally by breaking up proposed floor area increases into phases getting each phase approved separately.  Each phase is subject to the 10 percent/10,000 sf limit.    The additions are not cumulative and can be done in multiple stages that together exceed the 10 percent/10,000 sf maximum.

For example, an existing 100,000 sf retail center with 400 parking spaces now requires 323 to 377 spaces.  Parking could be reduced by up to 77 spaces, building square footage could be increased, or a combination of the two could be done to take advantage of the lower requirements. The maximum increase in building area is 23,870 sf (subject to maximum lot coverage and floor area ratio limits).  This could be done in three Administrative Amendments.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a registered landscape architect and senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Ann Arbor’s parking space requirements passed in 1999-2000 means fewer spaces needed and more area available for development.

If you own an existing commercial building in Ann Arbor, you may be able to expand your square footage without going through site plan approval.

How’s that?  Ann Arbor’s parking space requirements passed in 1999-2000 means fewer spaces needed and more area available for development.

Office uses approved prior to 1999 were usually designed to meet higher parking count requirements.  Same with commercial uses approved prior to 2000. The reduced requirements create opportunities for additional development including adding square footage to your existing buildings, constructing new buildings, removing parking, or creating outlots.

Existing office and commercial uses in Ann Arbor may now have excess parking spaces that could be converted to additional income producing assets. New parking requirements for office use range from a minimum of 1:333 sf to a maximum of 1:250 sf.  Many office developments prior to 1999 were designed with 1:250 sf and even 1:200 sf. 

New parking requirements for some commercial uses are also given as a range.  Prior to 2000, retail stores and retail centers of under 300,000 sf were often designed with 1:200 sf.  Current reduced requirements range from a minimum of 1:310 sf to a maximum of 1:265 sf.

Another benefit:  new building square footage can be approved administratively, avoiding the higher cost of a full site plan, and the potential for public review, subject to additional limitations.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a registered landscape architect and senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Design and construction rating systems like LEED include little recognition of the benefits of sustainable landscape and site design. The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) intends to change that with a 4-star rating system that recognizes “ecosystem services”. 

LEED scores soon to incorporate landscape design.

These ecosystem services include global and local climate regulation, air and water cleansing, water supply and regulation, erosion and sediment control, hazard mitigation, pollination, habitat functions, waste decomposition and treatment, human health and well-being benefits, food and renewable non-food products, and cultural benefits.

SITES is a distillation of practices and principles for integrating “ecosystem services” into site development, as described in The Sustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009, released on November 5, 2009. It establishes and encourages sustainable practices in landscape design, construction, operations, and maintenance. 

Sustainable landscapes move beyond the typical green building do-no-harm/carbon neutral approach by sequestering carbon, cleaning the air and water, increasing energy efficiency, restoring habitats, and giving back through significant economic, social, and environmental benefits never fully measured until now. The U.S. Green Building Council anticipates incorporating the SITES guidelines and performance benchmarks into future iterations of its LEED® Green Building Rating System™.

SITES provides the first voluntary guidelines and rating system for sustainable landscapes, with or without buildings, and creates an essential missing link in green design.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a landscape architect and a senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, LLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.