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Green Space <br />The new development will result in losses to existing tree and vegetation making <br />the new landscape and replacement plantings an important feature of the site. <br />Importantly, the new landscape is intended to: <br />provide visual and aesthetic enhancements to the site and new buildings proposed; <br />mitigate impacts caused by development, especially for neighbors adjacent to new <br />development; <br />highlight unique features introduced to the site with its redevelopment; and <br />organize the ways in which people will experience the site. <br />This creates a significant project goal to increase the quality and variety of green <br />space to be enjoyed by residents, families, guests and neighbors. PHS has engaged a <br />Forester and a Landscape Architect to assist us in creating an outdoor environment that <br />invites residents, families, guests to engage nature and in managing, improving and <br />renewing the resources on site for the future. Their planning will provide us with a <br />landscape resource management plan that will work to ensure planning and practices that <br />will create an enduring and regenerating landscape. The draft plan is attached to this <br />submission along with the Foresters report. The management plan will be updated as <br />more details are added to the final landscaping plan. In addition, the Forester will be <br />meeting with City staff to walk the site and discuss current conditions and proposed <br />plans. Increasing tree stock health and creating longevity is a priority. Many new trees of <br />varying sizes and species are planned and where ever possible healthy vibrant trees are <br />being preserved with an undergrowth of seedlings to be ready to take their place as they <br />age. <br />The site is organized around two major spaces, each of which is comprised of a series <br />of open spaces, views and vistas, and plazas, gardens, or unique features. An orientation <br />to Lake Johanna is the major site feature. Stormwater management features are designed <br />as focal points and supplemented with ornamental ponds; a promenade doubles as a fire <br />lane around the north side of the new building, and terrain allows for the creation of a <br />water feature surrounded by a "north woods" landscape. The trail and sidewalk system <br />allows users to wander through linked ponds and weave through a variety of gardens like <br />a butterfly garden with benches and gazebos for resting and watching. The outdoor <br />chapel reading area and terrace elements overlooking gardens create opportunities for <br />enrichment and sharing. <br />The second major space is the significant common space that visually links the <br />intersection of Lake Johanna Boulevard and County Road D to the building's main entry <br />and the public library. A formal walkway bounds one edge of this greensward and a <br />meandering walk lies on the other, offering a diversity of experiences for anyone <br />approaching the public library from the intersection. Like the lake side of the site, <br />several smaller gardens and gathering spaces provide exterior spaces for residents of the <br />new development. Where the existing landscape occurred largely as volunteer woodland <br />(where succession was the primary form of the landscape), new plantings will evolve as a <br />planned landscape with a focus on accommodating activities programmed for the site. <br />