Hillcrest Orchards is a proposed ‘Conservation Open Space' community located on 771 acres formerly occupied by the Hillcrest Orchards apple production facility, 15 miles northeast of Kalamazoo, MI.
Teska designers followed a four-step conservation design process to develop an environmentally sensitive community with a true ‘sense of place'. The first step was to determine the allowable density for the site by developing a ‘Yield Plan' based on the underlying zoning of 43,560 s.f. lots. Step two was a comprehensive analysis and inventory of the key environmental features of the site. Next, using the environmental analysis and inventory, the design team outlined areas of the site that were ‘Development Opportunities' and ‘Conservation Opportunities'. The final step was to design the detailed lot and road networks in the areas that were outlined as ‘Development Opportunities'. The final lot count matched the total lots from the ‘Yield Plan', but the lot sizes were reduced to 25,000 s.f. to allow for design flexibility.
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