{"id":632,"date":"2020-09-15T20:21:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T20:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/7genplanning.com\/?p=632"},"modified":"2021-03-12T22:28:37","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T22:28:37","slug":"plant-facilities-and-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/7genplanning.com\/plant-facilities-and-detention\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant Facilities and Detention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly every community in the Houston region will include a water plant, wastewater plant, lift stations and detention ponds.\u00a0So why is it that these necessary components are so negatively visible in some communities \u2014 and almost invisible in others?\u00a0In rare instances, some of these components actually work to beautify and enhance communities!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s the difference?\u00a0We think there are three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Creative Engineering
    <\/strong>Ponds are square with a 30\u2019 maintenance berm, right? And plant facilities require a 6\u2019 tall chain link fence with barbed wire on top \u2013 the TCEQ says so, right? Bolted, galvanized tanks are best since they require the least maintenance, right? No, no and no! There\u2019s absolutely nothing wrong with any of these ideas, but they are just the starting place. There is so much creative license in engineering that is so rarely exercised.

    There are two main arguments many engineers will give \u2013 maintenance is concern number one and anything else adds cost (covered below). There is validity to both arguments. As engineers, it is important that we consider the end operator (City, Utility District, etc.) and how effective the design will be.  We also have to keep the end user<\/strong> in mind which is often Joe Public. He drinks water from the water plant, flushes his toilet and hopes not to flood during large rain events \u2013 all things that require sound engineering. But Joe also has to drive past all those public facilities on his way to work every day and he has to walk his dog around the neighborhood every night. Don\u2019t you think he might enjoy his life a bit more if he was able to have a detention pond disguised as an open space? Or drive past a water plant that is barely noticeable because of the quality wall and landscaping surrounding the plant?  ****He might even pay a little more for his house and HOA fees to be able to enjoy those added features!****

    In the end, nothing can or should replace sound engineering, but the expectations of developers and homebuyers now demands that the box that engineers used to work inside of get shelved and replaced with creative thought processes.<\/li>
  2. Thoughtful Planning and Landscaping
    <\/strong>As planners and landscape architects we are to take opportunities and constraints into consideration at the beginning of the process. The goal is to try and turn all the constraints into opportunities but this will not always be possible. During the design process of a community which is anticipated to have some, or all, of these utility elements the planners need to coordinate with the civil engineers to determine sizing and all optional locations for the water plants, wastewater plants and any lift stations. They also need a firm grasp from the developer and civil engineer on budgets, cost anticipations and cost\/design implications of the alternative sites. Once the planner has this information he or she can take the utility puzzle pieces into account, along with the other site given opportunities and constraints and begin laying out the community.

    Though something must be adjacent to these utility sites the goal is to not have it within views along, or from, the marketing trail (the path which people travel to and into the site to get to the model homes and amenities). Though you can hide with walls and landscape the better located from heavily viewed areas the less wall and landscape cost there will be to hide them.

    Sometime the site constraints won\u2019t allow the location of these utilities to be out of view. That is when walls and landscape become the best option. The landscaping needs to be designed for year-round screening and interest. The amount of landscape and wall aesthetics depend on budget limitations and distance from which they will be viewed.

    Detention ponds have another possibility the others do not. They themselves can be an amenity if located and designed as such. Typically, with equal or slightly more cost than a square concrete box, these can be organic and landscaped if the projects goals, visions and budgets align to allow this. The catch phrase these days is Low Impact Development, but we have been conveying water through surface channels for a long time. Now, it\u2019s good marketing to meander and landscape these then put them on display.<\/li>
  3. Insightful Development and Investment
    <\/strong>The last piece of the puzzle in creating communities that look at necessary infrastructure as opportunities to enhance the lifestyle of the residents is a developer with insight, creativity and \u2013 sometimes \u2013 the willingness to open the pocketbook to make early investments with hopes that the investment will pay off in the long run through higher lot and home prices.  Don\u2019t get me wrong, there are times with efficiency is key to making a project work and we\u2019re scraping every teaspoonful of dirt to balance a site. On those projects square pond and galvanized tanks are the way to go \u2013 and we\u2019re thrilled to be a part of those projects. But there is certainly something special about being a part of the team that creates memorable communities. I\u2019d love to name a few, but I\u2019d hate to leave anyone off of that list! As engineers, planner and landscape architects, we can have the greatest ideas in the world, but it\u2019s not our money that we\u2019re spending. Our designs have to match our clients\u2019 pocketbooks, and we should adapt to meet those challenges, or exceed those expectations depending on our clients\u2019 needs and funding.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    I hope that this short post will encourage engineers to stretch their comfort zone, planners and landscape architects to bring creativity to the real world \u2014 and for developers to push their consultants to do just that!\u00a0At Costello and 7gen, we\u2019ve seen those things first hand and we are excited to meet the challenges that our developers bring to us.\u00a0If we can help do that on your next project, don\u2019t hesitate to give us a call. If you are a consultant that has had a chance to make a difference by creative engineering or thoughtful planning, please feel free to leave a comment below for everyone to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Nearly every community in the Houston region will include a water plant, wastewater plant, lift stations and detention ponds.\u00a0So why is it that these necessary components are so negatively visible in some communities \u2014 and almost invisible in others?\u00a0In rare instances, some of these components actually work to beautify and enhance communities! So what\u2019s the … Continue reading Plant Facilities and Detention<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPlant Facilities and Detention - 7Gen Planning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/7genplanning.com\/plant-facilities-and-detention\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plant Facilities and Detention - 7Gen Planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nearly every community in the Houston region will include a water plant, wastewater plant, lift stations and detention ponds.\u00a0So why is it that these necessary components are so negatively visible in some communities \u2014 and almost invisible in others?\u00a0In rare instances, some of these components actually work to beautify and enhance communities! 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