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Community Design + Architecture was approached by Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition to develop a concept plan for a 43 acre property located east of the unincorporated town of Las Lomas in Monterey County. The site is currently used for strawberry cultivation and is notable for a large drainage swale on the eastern half. With the exception of slopes exceeding 20% along the swale and in the property’s northwest corner, the site has gentle slopes.
The Las Lomas development is envisioned to be as “green” as possible, not only in appearance but also in the way it addresses the issue of stormwater runoff. Throughout the site, greenways are used to structure the site plan, and generous setbacks allow for ample street landscaping. The greenways can incorporate pedestrian and bike paths, community gardens, “tot lots” (children’s playgrounds) and stormwater detention/infiltration facilities. Street landscaping can include biofiltering swales within the landscape strip, and parking facilities can be designed to detain and filter stormwater runoff from adjacent impervious surfaces. It is recommended that housing units be equipped with a simple rainwater cistern to capture roof runoff for irrigation purposes.
The proposed building program anticipates 375 dwelling units including 46 single family homes; 78 townhomes with garage; 124 townhomes with no garage; 35 hillside townhomes; 50 duplex units and 42 townhomes-over-flats units. Additionally an 8,500 square foot community center and pool is included.
To the extent possible, development conforms to the existing topography. However, in order to optimize development and create a community amenity in the form of a regulation-size play field, the southern portion of the swale was reconfigured into a series of detention basins. A more conservative approach to grading in the northern portion of the site was taken by not raising the base elevation of the bottom of swale.
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