Ecological Landscape Design & Planning Portfolio

P O R T F O L I O

Corrin Meise-Munns Ecological Planning & Design (603) 748-4107 | corrin.mm@gmail.com

Corrin Meise-Munns As an ecological designer and planner, I know that all projects, no matter the scale, have the opportunity to benefit both people and the ecosystems of which we are a part. I believe that with intentional, whole systems design, we can establish systems of vibrant neighborhoods and healthy communities.

Because our health and quality of life depend upon ecosystem services, my designs enhance urban green infrastructure and support systems of economic, social, and environmental resiliency. True vitality in design cannot exist without the support and care of the community, and my process is based in participatory engagement. Charrettes, forums, and intentional listening inform my designs with a diversity of expression, relationships, and landscapes.

I practice place-based design, and produce solutions that celebrate and augment a location’s unique history, culture, and context. By re-imagining place as the heart of home and community, we can encourage ourselves to steward our natural environment and our relationships with each other.

Contents Project Cutsheets 4 Concepts & Practice 13

Enhancing Urban Ecosystem Services

Engaging a Sense of Place

Community Engagement

Writing Sample 25

Pittsfield Executive Summary: Planning Document

PRO

OJECT CUTSHEETS

Suburban Backyard Retreat Project Cutsheets

SketchUp based analysis guided selective tree removal to optimize sun in the backyard with minimal ecological impact.

Residential Schematic Design, Longmeadow, MA The Conway School, Fall 2015 This sustainable, low maintenance design emphasizes the social, recreational, and aesthetic values of the client. The design proposal enhances privacy while addressing the site challenges of a steep backyard slope and proximity to an interstate highway.

In the front yard, a native woodland garden enlivens the entry to the home and makes use of the shade from the existing canopy of mature oak. A native wildflower and grass meadow stabilizes the regraded slope in the rear of the property. Native shrubs and evergreens add seasonal interest and habitat value while screening the view of the abutting highway. With an increased amount of level lawn space, the backyard features a set of tiered terraces for a patio and pool deck.

Axonometric of pool, patio, and level backyard

Site Assets Diagram Majestic mature oak canopy Curving drive adds sense of mystery to arrival Hand-stacked stone retaining wall

Established ornamental perennial beds

Before & After Photoshop Rendering

Site Constraints Diagram

Noise from I-91 Retaining wall acts as dam in yard

Steep slope

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Canopy shades majority of property

CAD-drafted basemap with contours produced from surveying the site with robotics.

Schematic design with proposed grading plan Azalea allĂŠe

Native woodland garden

Patio & pool deck

Regraded back lawn Mixed native meadow

Native woodland garden

Evergreen visual screen Japanese garden

Cross section of schematic design

Regraded backyard 10

Native woodland entry garden with formal path 20

Pool terrace Evergreen visual screen

Mixed native meadow and evergreen deciduous screen

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Project Cutsheets

A Vision for Pittsfield’s Conservation Areas: Linking Landscape & Community Prepared for the City of Pittsfield, MA Conservation Commission The Conway School, Winter 2016 Corrin Meise-Munns & Miranda Feldmann The City of Pittsfield is in the midst of an economic and cultural revitalization, and has recognized the need for a conservation area management plan to safeguard their sense of place as a “city in the country.” Commissioned by Pittsfield’s Conservation Commission, A Vision for Pittsfield’s Conservation Areas is a strategic planning document that considers each of the city’s four largest conservation property’s history of use and development, defines existing assets, and identifies gaps in community and ecological needs.

Integrating community meetings and input, site analysis, GIS-based mapping and assessment, and guidance from the City’s Master Plan, my partner and I developed recommendations towards the holistic management of both specific properties and the City’s conservation areas as a whole.

The recommendations provided in the document resulted from listening to the needs of the client and community, and thorough site analysis.

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Analysis included access to conservation areas for Environmental Justice populations.

Wetland

Farmland Designation Statewide importance Unique importance

Soil Type & Slope

Amenia silt loam, 8-15% Nellis loam, 8-15%

Palms and Carlisle mucks, 0-1% Pittsfield loam, 3-8%

Land cover overlays identify priority areas of8-15% Pittsfield loam, educational or conservation value

Legend

0

0.05

0.1

Miles 0.2

Coniferous Forest

Shrub Swamp

Herbaceous Wetland

Deciduous Forest

Open Water

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0

0.05

0.1

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0 0.25 0.5

Miles 0.2

Legend

Legend Conservation Areas of Interest

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0

0.5

1

Miles 2

River or Stream Pond or Lake

Open Space Protected in Perpetuity BioMap2 Core Habitat

BioMap2 Critical Natural Landscape

Priority Natural Communities

Scrub/Shrub

Environmental justice populations & accessibility

Pond or Lake

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Black ash-red maple-tamarack calcareous seepage swamp Calcareous sloping fen

Major-river floodplain forest

Red oak-sugar maple transition forest Transitional floodplain forest

Service Layer Credits: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS user community

Impervious surface, land cover, & watershed subbasins

Perennial Stream

Existing and potential areas of habitat connectivity

Legend

Critical habitat / priority natural communities

Site specific soils & suitability for agriculture

Private property, wetland communities, & buffers

GIS-based analysis and overlays aided site assessment pattern recognition across a broad scale.

River or Stream Pond or Lake

Wetland Buffer 100 ft Deep Marsh

Shrub Swamp

Wooded Swamp Deciduous Abutting Property Lines

1

1.5

Miles 2

Legend Conservation Areas of Interest Road

State Highway

Medium and High Density Development

Environmental Justice Populations Population by Income

Population by Minority & Income Service Layer Credits: Content may not reflect National Geographic's current map policy. Sources: National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, HERE, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, increment P Corp.

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Project Cutsheets

Capturing Lincoln’s Sense of Place: A Vision for Lincoln Station

Customers and Visitors to Lincoln Station Lack Adequate & Attractive Seating and Gathering Spaces

Prepared for the Town of Lincoln, MA Planning Department The Conway School, Spring 2016 Corrin Meise-Munns & Margot Halpin Lincoln Station is a four-acre mall within the Town of Lincoln’s downtown commercial district. Owned by a conservation nonprofit, the mall is currently lagging in consumer sales and struggling to compete with larger commercial centers in neighboring towns. The town’s planning department commissioned Capturing Lincoln’s Sense of Place as a site redesign, intended to make the mall more inviting, and as a strategic planning document focused on economic development and creating a greener, more walkable commercial district.

Drawing on research from previous planning documents and incorporating stakeholder charrettes and engagement, placemaking theory, and Complete Streets techniques, my partner and I created a site plan designed to engage residents in a community setting and rebrand Lincoln Station as a “third place” for social gathering outside of home and work. Planning recommendations include creating a strong brand identity by emphasizing Lincoln Station’s unique connection with the town’s conservation ethic and rural aesthetic, re-programming the mall’s businesses to cater to the town’s social needs, and strengthening connections to local cultural and recreational attractions.

Viewsheds into Lincoln Station are Car Dominated & Unwelcoming

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Cultural, Historical, & Recreational Attractions within a Mile of Lincoln Station

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2

1

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Woods End Historic District

Mass Audubon

Gropius House Lincoln Schools Lincoln Historic District Beaver Pond

Mass Audubon

MBTA

Rail an

d Platfo

rm

Mt. Misery

Lincoln Road

Tower Hill Conservation Area

Initial Concept Diagrams

Schematic Design

Henslow’s sparrow local endangered species

Pedestrian gateways with wayfinding signs

A Bioswale with raised boardwalk

Interpretive Henslow’s sparrow habitat

Speed tables throughout

A’

Native planted embankment

Crushed sandstone paths & patios with Parisian bistro tables

Cafe seating & beer garden De-paved parking area for added pedestrian space

B’

B

1-way traffic offers space for vegetated pedestrian buffers

Legend River or Stream Pond, Lake, or Reservoir Wetland Lincoln Public Trails All Other Conservation Land

LLCT & RLF Conservation Land Multi-use low-mow Station lawn with slopedLincoln stage Lincoln Boundary and seating area

Cross Section A-A’: The Bioswale Path Through the Parking Lot Enhances Pedestrian Experience

A North End of

Main Drive in Parking Lot

Grass & Wildflower Embankment (12% slope)

Bioretention Soil (3’ depth) Gravel Filtration (8” deep)

X

0

30 0.5

Feet Miles 160

Cross Section B-B’: A Multi-Functional Lawn Provides Space to Socialize & People-Watch

Boardwalk (18” high)

Grass & Wildflower Filter Strip (6% slope)

Gravel Diaphragm (1’ depth)

Parking Strip A’ with Granite Wheel Stop

B

Low-mow lawn (at existing grade)

Wood stage / Low-mow gathering area slope leading to with stone retaining wall stage and stairs (16% Slope) (18” above grade)

Low-mow lawn B’ (at existing grade)

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CONC

CEPTS / PRACTICE

Enhancing Urban Ecosystem Services / Concepts / Practice

Exploration of Urban Residential Stormwater Management & Canopy Cover

Sketchbook As an ecological designer, my work focuses on supporting and revitalizing environmental benefits in urban and suburban areas for social, economic, and environmental health. On this page, I have compiled from my sketchbook explorations and explanations of urban ecosystem services providing financial and environmental benefits to (sub)urban dwellers. Expanding canopy cover and tree plantings increase property value, reduce energy costs, and cool a warming climate. Employing urban stormwater management techniques, such as reducing impervious surface and creating bioswales, clean and sink the first flush of stormwater.

Diagram of Economic and Environmental Benefits of (Sub)Urban Trees Transpiration by Trees Cools the Air

Shading Paved Surfaces Reduces Urban Heat Island Effect

Shading Cools the Home & Reduces Energy Costs

Conceptual Bioswale Cross Section

Native planted rail embankment slows, sinks, and evaporates runoff

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Bioswale filters and sinks runoff while providing native pollinator and bird habitat and forage

Vegetated buffers for sidewalks make the pedestrian experience safer & more pleasant

Enhancing Urban Ecosystem Services /

Residential Development Affects the 200-foot Wetland Buffer of Tierney Wildlife Refuge

Pittsfield, MA

Natural Communities Forming Tierney Wildlife Refuge’s Wetland Buffer

As part of a 2016 visioning plan for the City of Pittsfield Conservation Commission, I used GIS-based analysis to explore the role of the city’s conservation areas in triple bottom line benefits. Through quantifying regional levels of impervious surface and canopy cover (below, left), delineating approximate areas of fragile and/or priority natural communities (far right), and mapping wetland encroachment and habitat fragmentation (right), I identified possible effects of potential and existing development on the city’s existing green infrastructure. Recommendations resulting from the project analysis included methods to enhance the ecological, economic, and social services of specific conservation areas, including Tierney Wildlife Refuge (below, right).

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Impervious Surface & Canopy Cover in Subbasins of the Housatonic River in Pittsfield

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0.05

0.1

Miles 0.2

Management Recommendations for David J. Tierney, Sr. Wildlife Refuge Legend

City of Pittsfield

West Branch Subbasin: 35% Impervious Surface 23% Forest Cover

Option 1: No intervention. Allow unguided use of site. Do not install formal trails.

Benefits: No strain on budget. Will not attract more visitors to site, who could potentially impact site ecology.

Constraints: Unguided use is damaging to site ecology, with visitors treading over understory in wooded communities and into wetlands.

Unmaintained aesthetic does not indicate that the property is cared for, which can encourage misuse.

River or Stream Pond or Lake

Wetland Buffer 100 ft Deep Marsh

Shrub Swamp

Wooded Swamp Deciduous

Ono ta L a

ke

Abutting Property Lines

East Branch Subbasin: 33% Impervious Surface 28% Forest Cover nic

to usa Ho er Riv

David J. Tierney, Sr. Wildlife Refuge

Legend River or Stream Lake or Pond

Conservation Areas of Interest Subbasins

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0

0.5

1

Miles 2

Southwest Branch Subbasin: 12% Impervious Surface 48% Forest Cover

Option 2: Prioritize access while minimizing ecological degradation. Install a universally accessible trail and boardwalk with a viewing platform overlooking the wetlands.

Benefits: Promotes universal access to conservation area. Allows for trail improvements with minimal impact on wetland storage capacity and vegetative communities.

Constraints: Increased interest in site may attract more visitors, which could lead to more ecological disruption. Requires a budgetary investment, which can be mitigated by a concerted effort to rely on donated materials and volunteer labor.

Option 3: Prioritize ecological health. Close site to visitors.

Benefits: Decreased visitorship could lead to increased ecological integrity.

Constraints: Decreases “eyes on site” who can help monitor illegal activities.

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Enhancing Urban Ecosystem Services / Lincoln, MA Concepts / Practice

Impervious Surface & Canopy Cover within the Stony Brook Subbasin

Lincoln Commercial District

Drinking Water Protection Areas in Relation to Lincoln Commercial District

X X

Legend River or Stream Pond or Lake

0 10 20

0 10 20

40

40

60

60

Miles 80

Miles 80

Lincoln Station

Legend

Stony Brook Subbasin

River Town or Stream Boundary

Legend Town of Lincoln

Pond Charles or Lake River Watershed

Shawsheen River Watershed

Lincoln Land CoverStation Cover Stony Canopy Brook Subbasin Town Impervious Boundary Surface Charles River Watershed Land Cover

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Charles River Watershed

Legend

Sudbury-Assabet-Concord Rivers Watershed Town of Lincoln Shawsheen River Watershed

Canopy Cover

Charles River Watershed

Impervious Surface

Sudbury-Assabet-Concord Rivers Watershed

Working with the Town of Lincoln’s Planning Department to create a greener downtown commercial district, I explored how the district’s 22 acres of impervious surface might affect the quality of two drinking water supply areas and the health of the local watershed. Design solutions included incorporating a bioswale to filter the runoff from the town’s major commercial parking lot at Lincoln Station. The bioswale will slow, clean, and sink the first flush of stormwater while also providing a safe pedestrian path through the parking lot, forage for pollinators and birds, and enhancing the visual aesthetic of the pavement-dominated lot.

Surface Water Runoff & Stormwater Drainage at Lincoln Station Rim: 202.8 Inv: 192.2

Rim: 200.9 Inv: 191.3 Rim: 199.1 Inv: 197.0

Rim: 203.5 Inv: 193.3

Rim: 205.7 Inv: 201.8

Leach Pit 6’ Diameter Inv: 200

Rim: 202.4 Inv: 198.26

Inv: 196.3

Beehive Drain Connecting to Invert Elevation 192.2

Legend

Boardwalk 18” high

Drainage Pipe Direction Surface Water Drainage Impervious Surface Vegetated Surface Catch Basin

Proposed Bioswale Cross Section (Rendered in AutoCAD & Photoshop)

A

A’ North End of Main Drive in Parking Lot

Native Grass & Wildflower Embankment 12% slope

Bioretention Soil 3’ deep Gravel Filtration 8” deep

Native Grass & Wildflower Filter Strip 6% slope

Parking Strip with Granite Wheel Stop Gravel Diaphragm

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Fothergilla gardenii

Engaging a Sense of Place / Longmeadow, MA Concepts / Practice

Shrub Layer

Ground Cover

Kalmia latifolia

Hamamelis virginiana Cornus canadensis

Existing Canopy: Oak & Sugar Maple

Tiarella cordifolia

{

Perennials

Woodland Path (right)

An area develops its identity as a combination of its unique cultural heritage, regional context, and environmental setting. My designs capture this sense of place and enhance the human experience in the landscape.

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The foundation and entry gardens of this residential design root the home within the neighborhood’s environmental context. Located only 400 feet from Forest Park (one of the largest urban municipal parks in the United States), the schematic garden design for the front of the house incorporates deciduous woodland structure replete with the mesic forest species found in the area.

Taking advantage of the property’s existing canopy of mature maple and oak, the foundation and entry garden design includes ground covers, herbaceous wildflowers, and shrubs of varied structures and height to enhance a sense of place and belonging within the home.

Forest Park

Client’s Property

Existing Oak Canopy Shrub Layer: Kalmia latifolia

Shrub Layer: Amelanchier canadensis

Perennials: Tiarella cordifolia Ground Cover: Cornus canadensis

Photoshop Rendering of Woodland Path

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Concepts / Practice

Engaging a Sense of Place / Lincoln, MA In Lincoln, MA, I worked with the Rural Land Foundation (RLF) in an effort to revitalize its commercial property, Lincoln Station. A conservation non-profit, RLF funds its conservation activities with profits from the small commercial mall.

As consumers increasingly shop online or in larger, nearby commercial centers, Lincoln Station is struggling to stay profitable and RLF wants to give Lincoln’s residents a reason to shop locally.

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Through a series of stakeholder and community surveys and charrettes, we identified many of Lincoln’s core values were tied to the town’s conservation ethic. To strengthen Lincoln Station’s ties with its nonprofit ownership, the design exhibits the Rural Land Foundation’s contribution to Lincoln’s cherished rural aesthetic. Techniques included decreasing pavement, adding gardens and vegetated pedestrian paths, and designing with a regional plant palette that

The endangered Henslow’s sparrow can serve as a branding opportunity, representing the mall’s connection to the Rural Land Foundation’s conservation mission.

references the town’s location within the Boston Basin Ecoregion. In this vision, Lincoln Station feels less like a mall than a community center, nestled within the town’s beloved open space.

The proposed Henslow’s Park, replacing a small parking lot and underused lawn, provides multiple zones of pedestrian activity while its native plant palette roots Lincoln Station with the environmental context of the area.

Crushed sandstone pathways

Interpretive Henslow’s sparrow habitat

Schizachyrium scoparium

Donelan’s Grocery

Sorghastrum nutans

A

Adropogon gerardii A’ Monarda fistulosa

Roof overhangs removed, colorful Parisian tables placed throughout

Business operated patio with 18” stone wall border

3’ tall earth mound (low-mow fescue mix)

Sporobolis heterolepis

Rudbeckia hirta

Asclepias tuberosa

Cross Section A - A’: Social Gathering Spaces & Interpretive Henslow’s Sparrow Habitat

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Community Participation Concepts / Practice

Resilient design responds to the needs and desires of the community. With a focus on participatory engagement, I have facilitated multiple stakeholder and public meetings with groups as small as five to gatherings of over 40 attendees.

My process includes developing creative ways of eliciting responses to project specific prompts. Through charrettes, visioning activities, and plain old conversations, I move past responses to specific designs and aim for the heart of what the community wants and needs.

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WRITING SAMPLE

Writing Sample

Writing Sample: Executive Summary A Vision for Pittsfield’s Conservation Areas: Linking Landscape & Community Prepared for The City of Pittsfield Conservation Commission

Conservation areas enhance the quality of life within Pittsfield by providing access to a rich and varied network of wild spaces. City officials and community members have worked for decades to preserve natural resources within the city and maintain Pittsfield’s character as “a city in the country.” The Pittsfield Conservation Commission recognizes that preservation of the land is not enough; the City needs a management plan to guide decision making to protect and maintain their wealth of natural resources.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

The Conservation Commission hired the Conway School to evaluate existing conditions at the City’s four largest conservation areas: Barkerville Conservation Area, Brattlebrook Park, the David J. Tierney, Sr. Wildlife Refuge, and Wild Acres Conservation Area. They requested objectives to guide management at each site and Pittsfield’s conservation areas as a whole.

Feedback suggests that community participants want to protect and enhance the ecology and beauty of these natural areas, with a management process that:

The objectives offered in this plan were developed with guidance from the City’s Master Plan, consultation with the Conservation Commission, site analysis of the four parcels, and responses from community outreach. These objectives include recommended strategies for implementation and are meant to aid the Conservation Commission in protecting and maintaining the ecological health of the conservation areas while simultaneously improving the human experience of the sites. Each objective addresses the protection and enhancement of the city’s natural resources, quality of life, economic vigor, or a combination of these three interconnected principles.

From January through March of 2016, the project team and the Conservation Commission solicited input from the Pittsfield community regarding their use of and concerns for the conservation areas. Outreach included two community meetings on February 4 and March 1, 2016, interviews with community members and conservation professionals, and two online surveys. This valuable input was an important component of A Vision for Pittsfield’s Conservation Areas.

• improves communication and public awareness, • ensures better enforcement to curb misuse, • offers more educational opportunities for youth and adults, • increases recreational opportunities while simultaneously restricting active recreational uses and organized sports, • maintains infrastructure and actively manages natural areas to deter invasive plants and repair ecological damage, and • expands accessibility to allow people with disabilities to use and access some of conservation areas.

The recommendations and strategies presented in this document address these concerns and ideas. In particular, the Conservation Commission will need to develop ways to publicize the conservation areas and balance recreational needs for different user groups.

SITE ANALYSIS

The site analyses explore the natural resources of the four study areas and evaluate their patterns of access, circulation, recreational use, and suitability for agriculture.

Ecology Pittsfield’s conservation areas display a diversity of natural communities, including wetlands, deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands, shrublands, and meadows. Hydrological features are a key component to each of the four conservation areas. With the exception of Barkerville Conservation Area, which has over two miles of frontage along the Housatonic River, wetlands comprise at least 40% of each site. Each of the eight Species of Conservation Concern found

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over the conservation areas of interest rely on aquatic habitat for part or all of their lifecycles, highlighting the importance of maintaining high water quality within Pittsfield’s waterbodies. The biggest threat to the ecological integrity of each of these parcels is contamination from historical sources, illegal dumping, or polluted stormwater runoff; ecological degradation caused by visitors’ misuse; and the spread of invasive species.

Access Many abutting neighbors enter the conservation areas from their own backyards.

Due to their locations outside of the city center and a lack of available public transportation, access across all four of the parcels is likely limited to neighbors and visitors with access to vehicles. Fourteen percent of Pittsfield’s residents do not own a car, and the nearly 40% defined as environmental justice populations (high minority and low income) are clustered to the northeast or within the urban core. The four conservation areas are located outside of the urban core, suggesting that they are not equally available to all demographics. The conservation areas lack identified addresses and are not consistently marked with signs, further confusing access to the sites.

Suitability for Agriculture Each of the four conservation areas of interest contain soils of farmland importance. Brattlebrook Park and Wild Acres, each with histories of agricultural use and areas in current agricultural production, provide the best opportunities for agricultural use within the City’s conservation areas.

Many of the agricultural soils in all four of the parcels currently support woodlands and wetlands, necessitating an environmental assessment of the impacts of disturbing the site for agricultural use. It is likely that the resources required to clear the land or comply with the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act negates the potential benefits of agricultural use within these areas at each site.

OBJECTIVES

A Vision for Pittsfield’s Conservation Areas outlines the following objectives for the management of Pittsfield’s conservation areas: • protect, preserve, and maintain the City’s natural resources • enhance access to the conservation areas for visitors of all demographics and ability levels • increase opportunities for environmental education and community outreach • develop adequate staffing and funding sources for management of conservation areas • foster communication and address gaps in information

Many residential properties abut the conservation areas, like these homes overlooking Brattlebrook Park. Photo credit: Miranda Feldmann.

The four conservation areas entice both locals and tourists alike to explore their waterways and natural open spaces. Enhancing access and engaging the community will inspire stewardship of these open spaces into the future.

Circulation and Recreational Use Visitors to the conservation areas enjoy the sites for the passive recreational opportunities they afford. Common activities include hiking, dog walking, fishing, and nature observation. Active recreation, such as organized sports or the use of motorized vehicles, is discouraged or actively prohibited.

The conservation areas risk ecological degradation under existing patterns of circulation and misuse. Wild Acres Conservation Area is the only one of the four parcels to feature official trails. The use of informal paths is widespread throughout the parcels, which can be damaging to each site’s ecological integrity. Although the use of all terrain vehicles (ATVs) is prohibited within the conservation areas, Brattlebrook Park and Barkerville Conservation Area are subject to frequent abuse from ATV operators who leave visible tracks on the properties.

One of Wild Acres’ biggest attractions is its observation tower, which overlooks the site’s wetlands to the south. Photo credit: Tom Lewis.

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