Moravian Preservation Master Plan.indb - Society for College and ...

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
and consider other locations for development
before building in ravines and other areas
with steep slopes or with the potential to
impact water resources, woodlands, and other
important natural resources.
• Reduce waste during maintenance by
recovering yard trimmings for composting.
Compost reduces the need for fertilizers by
supplying nutrients in a slow-release manner.
It also helps soils hold more rainwater onsite,
decreases runoff, and provides increased soil
moisture and filtering capacity.
• Retain existing woodlands along riparian
corridors to help stabilize soils, slow runoff, and
filter impurities before they enter waterways.
• Monitor the bluffs above Monocacy Creek on
both campuses for signs of soil erosion.
• Protect slopes from erosion by maintaining a
healthy vegetative cover.
• Comply with the City of Bethlehem’s 2008
Comprehensive Plan by protecting moderate
to steep slopes (15% to over 25%). Erosion
occurs more swiftly on steep slopes and is less
controllable (City of Bethlehem 2008b).
Stormwater Management
Management of stormwater is essential to the
protection of historic land forms, as well as the
protection of the course and health of Monocacy
Creek:
• Mitigate the stormwater run-off associated with
road, parking, and path development within
the campus by reducing impervious cover.
• Promote sheet flow of stormwater over the
landscape areas rather than concentrating or
channeling flow, which can cause erosion.
• Increase on-site infiltration of stormwater
by using filter strips, grass swales, and rain
gardens, which increase groundwater recharge
by capturing excess water.
• Reduce water pollution, particularly from
parking areas, by reducing impervious cover,
increasing on-site infiltration, eliminating
sources of contaminants, and removing
pollutants from stormwater runoff.
Spatial Organization
The organization of several large, open spaces
within the campus represent the cultural heritage
of Moravia College. Preservation of these spaces
is essential to preservation of the overall historic
character of the campus:
• Maintain spatial relationships established
during the historic period between buildings
and landscapes, and between historic landscape
features.
• Consider the effects of new developments on
historic spatial relationships between buildings
and landscapes.
• Replace features slated for removal with
compatible new features in order to maintain
historic spatial patterns.
• Consider the contribution of vegetation patterns
to historic patterns of spatial organization
within the campus. Replace historic trees and
other plants in-kind, if possible, and in their
historic locations.
Buildings
Refer to overall building treatment guidelines and
recommendations presented in Chapters 8 and 9.
Land Use
When considering a new development project,
consider how its land use will impact the
surrounding historic landscape:
• Maintain, if possible, the distinct historic land
uses that currently exist within each landscape
character area.
• Give equal weight to both natural and cultural
features in treatment and land-use decisions.
• Avoid land-use activities, permanent or
temporary, which threaten or impair known or
potential archeological resources.
• Monitor and regulate use of the landscape to
minimize immediate and long-term damage to
cultural resources.
• Limit, monitor, and control access to areas that
are vulnerable to damage from human use.
• Avoid developing new uses for existing
buildings and landscapes that require new
parking lots within historic landscapes.
Circulation Features
The circulation issues most affecting the historic
landscapes of Moravian College are vehicular
circulation, parking, and pedestrian circulation.
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 6 • Landscape Guidelines • 145