Hearthstone Estates

This high-profile project is adjacent to the Polk Run Creek, which has been subject to significant flooding and erosion. There was organized opposition to the project and as such, public meetings often had more than 200 attendees and the zoning process took more than a year. The major hot-button issue was the flooding of the Polk Run and related erosion.

IBI was able to present an innovative approach to storm water management that would ultimately reduce erosion and improve water quality in the adjacent Polk Run Creek. During the zoning process, our engineers determined that we could provide detention to our site and an adjacent 40-acre undetained subdivision. We were able to demonstrate that this solution would reduce both the velocity and rate of flow to the Polk Run, thus minimizing erosion. Effective stakeholder management and communication of this benefit accelerated the final zoning approval.

The original use of the site was a small farm and pay fishing lake. This reimagined project included six acres of ponds, 36 single-family homes, and 14 “empty nest” homes, with scenic views on almost every lot. Our team mitigated a five-acre household waste dump in order to construct the “empty nest” portion.

IBI Group’s work included planning, zoning, preliminary engineering, complex detention design, pond revitalization and re-stocking, water-main design, sanitary sewer design, a stream crossing, NPDES Phase II design, historic dump mitigation, Phase I and Phase II environmental. Our innovative NPDES-compliant design resulted in almost no additional costs for our developer. The project also had complex geology and geotechnical issues. IBI Group managed the work of the geotechnical firm to mitigate the landslide prone varved clay.