This beautiful 136+ Acre parcel was previously planned by a production builder for 240 homes, shoulder to shoulder, where over 10,000 trees would have been removed to create a traditional subdivision.

This is how it usually happens: The more densely you plan homes on the land, the more expense you have for connected roads, utility systems, sanitary lift stations to overcome the elevation changes, wetland relocation and mitigation, dedicated parks and reserve areas, and designated recreation zones. Higher density is driven by the higher costs of a traditional subdivision.

In contrast, we accepted the fact we could not improve on Mother Nature’s beauty. The goal was to preserve the beauty and work with the existing conditions as much as possible. The first step was to walk the site and locate each ideal home placement for a scenic view, then design various sized lots around the access we could get from 5 different existing streets. It was apparent that we had to think about this differently, outside the box, so to mimic some of the surrounding neighborhood, we planned narrower streets without sidewalks and curb gutters.

We also wanted to preserve wetlands and streams while minimizing the impact to them. In an effort to preserve as many trees as possible, tree surveys were done at all 5 entrances and main entry streets were planned to avoid destroying as many mature trees as possible. To that end we employed a forced mainline sanitary sewer which can been installed by direct-boring to avoid unnecessary clearing. Without this, many areas of the site would have required wide clear cutting just to install gravity sanitary sewer, some up to 100’ deep.

All roads in the project are private, but the finished road is designed for through traffic, even though they will not have this heavier traffic load.

Our vision for this smaller community of homes focused on the quality of life, proving a peaceful, private existence by maintaining much of the existing environment while providing services and amenities for our residents to enjoy like the trail, pool and modern clubhouse. There was an opportunity to achieve this goal and we worked diligently with Pataskala officials who supported this unique project.