Meadows Farms Nurseries purchased a 4.95 acre site in the Massaponnax area of Route 1 in Spotsylvania County that was zoned RU and contained several abandoned commercial buildings.  Meadows Farms had been working with another consultant that was unable to assist them with successfully rezoning the property to C-3 so that it would accommodate their retail landscape supply and nursery business.  By working with the Client and Spotsylvania County officials, Welford Engineering was able to assist Meadows Farms with successfully rezoning their property to permit the construction of a retail sales facility, several greenhouses, outside display areas for landscaping materials, and sufficient parking for retail customers and employees.

Once the site was appropriately zoned, Welford Engineering provided all of the site/ civil engineering and survey services to advance the project to construction.  Services included a wetlands walkover, perennial flow walkover, wetland delineation and permitting, topographic survey updates, final design and construction plans preparation.  Our engineering design services included not only the site itself, but additional off site improvements on Route 1 at the entrance to the site.  One of the unique challenges of this project design was in developing an approach to address the County’s stormwater management requirements.  Using site materials appropriate to a nursery and its significant water requirements, our team was able to design a Low Impact Development approach to design that utilized the plant display areas as bio-filtration facilities.  Not only does this site meet County regulations, it provides an environmentally sound approach to the appropriate use of water and the recycling of water to recharge area groundwater.