a landscape "contour graded" paseo system that connects residents to the parks and recreation centers, as well as a planned school and community park. It is a wonderful and practical design.” Ray notes that one of the first things he noticed when surveying the site were the amazing rock formations. “We wanted to take advantage of what was there naturally and that included boulders with good color and striation. I talked to my friend at Santa Paula Materials and invited him to tour our site. His assessment was that we could not only use the rock material aesthetically but also for base and backfill material, as well as for monuments and walls,” says Ray. “We partnered with Santa Paula Materials, who crushed existing rock material for use as 23-inches of local road base, keeping 26,000 truck trips off our roads, fewer NOx emissions with a monetary savings of $2.5 million in the process.” Pardee Homes also developed their land plan to build dry creeks along paseos instead of non-permeable v-ditches. “We constructed permeable cobble swales in place of concrete v-ditches, allowing the rainwater to make its way back into the groundwater storage system,” says Ray. “All of this works to tie the character of the development back to the original land that is not only pleasing to the eye, but also to the environment and budget.” Pardee Homes is finishing up Phase 1 of the Skyline project and will continue to build future phases as sales continue. “The push was to open four communities and community center by November 30th,” says Ray. In order to meet that timeframe, Pardee needed to have vehicular entryways and streetscapes leading up to those models constructed including the arterial roads, and slopes planted that served or faced the already built or sold homes. “We were successful and now have four communities open for sale with our adult community opening beginning 2020. The remaining construction phases, future recreation centers, and models will be completed as interest and commitments are made,” continues Ray. “BrightView is one of our primary vendors, and they are always enjoyable to work with. You know you can count on quality and commitment when you deal with BrightView. We also want to thank all of our other vendors like Independent Construction Company and Santa Paula Materials who have contributed so greatly to this amazing development.” Cc www.calcontractor.com
Top: Looking South over the recreation center and model complexes the boulder outcroppings add to the story of Skyline and it's geographic heritage. Middle: Looking North over the recreation center's tot lot and event lawn, an adventurous totlot awaits all ages and experience levels to climb on the ropes-course and balance on the spinning-wheel. Bottom: Looking West all four model complexes and the recreation center are visible with a backdrop of the Santa Clarita Valley.
2018 landscape Construction ISSUE CALCONTRACTOR
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