design elements - San Jacinto Texas Historic District

INFRASTRUCTURE
LA IN LI CI AM
Our habitation requires a network of support infrastructure – roads, energy, communications, water
management, waste management, etc. When these networks are designed separately for a single purpose
the result is often redundancy and waste. Where feasible and practical, infrastructure should achieve
multiple benefi ts and support the function and aesthetics of the surrounding landscape.
The infrastructure of the San Jacinto Texas
Historic District includes a network of paved
surfaces, systems for handling stormwater
runoff , and the utilities that provide people
with potable water, power, and other
services.
Infrastructure does not need to be ugly. It is
also not necessary to pollute the environment
and disrupt natural systems to achieve the
benefi ts that infrastructure provides. The Best
Practices in this section provide designers
with a number of tactics to minimize
environmental impacts and achieve multiple
benefi ts from the everyday infrastructure
around us.
Sculpting the ground plane is often necessary
to build roads and structures, but it can also
disrupt hydrology, destroy soil structure, and
make development appear incongruous with
the surrounding landscape. Landform Best
Practices suggest how grading activities can
make a positive contribution to the District.
Paved surfaces are impervious and therefore
shed excess stormwater runoff into our
streams and waterways. They also discharge
pollutants such as fi ne sediments and oils,
and can contribute to urban heat island
eff ects when darker surfaces are used. Paving
practices highlight these issues and establish
strategies for addressing them.
Water Best Practices illustrate measures that
can be employed to minimize detrimental
eff ects when stormwater is discharged from
impervious surfaces.
Utility Best Practices seek to reconcile the
spatial requirements for above and belowground
utilities with the aesthetic goals for
District corridors.
Decisions for designing, locating, and
installing utilities and infrastructure should
consider the potential for coastal fl ooding
and saltwater intrusions.
SAN JACINTO TEXAS HISTORIC DISTRICT CORRIDOR STANDARDS │ 97