SANTA CLARITA MEDIAN DESIGN GUIDELINES
Santa Clarita, California

Project Background:
Santa Clarita’s landscaped medians and parkways are known for their beauty and consistency. Since its 1987 incorporation, the City’s Landscape Maintenance District has focused on expanding median landscapes to include all arterials within the City. Pacific Coast Land Design has participated in all facets of this process since 1985.

Client: 
The City of Santa Clarita

Scope of Work:
Pacific Coast Land Design is currently involved in the planning, costing and design the medians throughout the City. Our planning work began with the production of design guidelines that formalized the LMD’s vision of tree lined medians with colorful ground plane planting. PCLD then revised the City’s construction details and standards to conform to the new guidelines. State of California water use standards were also incorporated into construction document requirements.

Next, PCLD classified all City arterials for conformance to the new standards. Medians with sub-standard or non-existent landscaping were identified for improvement. Specific improvements were listed and costed for each median. City staff then prioritized the recommendations for inclusion into the City’s 5 year Capital Improvement Plan.

Sustainability:
Eliminating turf and non-porous roadway paving in pre-existing medians not only contribites to a better aesthetic along Santa Clarita's medians, but also reduces stormwater runoff, and reduces heat islands. Drought tolerant plants, smart irrigation control, and point-source irrigation all contribute to reductions in water demand in this arid climate. Bio-retention and infiltration of water within the medians including bioswales is also a low-impact strategy that is utilized where possible.