GREEN STREETS | GREEN JOBS | GREEN TOWNS INITIATIVE
The Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns Partnership (G3) aims to stimulate the green jobs market and enable families to work
where they live and play. Small to mid-sized communities can boost their local economies and protect water resources through the
use of watershed planning, design and construction of stormwater best management practices.
s
Project
Location
Upper Chickahominy
River Subwatershed
Lower James
Watershed
IIII

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91,000 gallons of rain water can
be treated at one time
270 ft2 of rain gardens
100 native plants planted
7 trees planted
3,300 ft2 of permeable
pavement installed
LID RETROFIT FOR THE ASHLAND MUNICIPAL
PARKING LOT
Ashland transformed part of an existing municipal area into a "green.'"
low-impact parking lot using green infrastructure.
water This means that for the
typical smaller 1-inch storm event,
there's zero runoff
In 2013, Ashland received the
Dave Pearson Watershed
Excellence Award from the
Virginia Lakes and Watersheds
Association in recognition of the
Town's contribution to protecting
the environment.
Ashland's Town Hall municipal
parking lot serves as a multi-
functional space for residents and
visitors. Town officials and
community members agreed that
retrofitting the parking lot would
provide an excellent opportunity
for the Town to promote more
sustainable stormwater runoff
methods.
The 0.3 acre parking lot receives
polluted runoff from rain water
flowing from nearby rooftops and
pavement as well as from the
parking lot itself. When water hits
the parking lot, it drains into the
voids of a permeable interlocking
concrete pavement system through
18 inches of open-graded stone.
Here, it either soaks into the
ground below, or drains into a
commercial bioretention basin that
borders the lot and, using a
combination of native vegetation
and specially designed soils, soaks
up additional water and pollution.
The entire system is designed with
enough space to capture and treat
more than 91,000 gallons of rain
Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns Initiative // Stories of Green Infrastructure

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PROJECT ELEMENTS
•	Permeable pavement - Permeable pavement allows stormwater to soak into the
ground. Several different kinds of permeable pavement are used at this site,
allowing visitors to compare and contrast options for their own use.
•	Trees- In urban areas a single tree can intercept from 500 to 4,000 gallons per
year. Even young, small trees help, capturing 50 gallons per year. Trees not only
treat stormwater, they provide a host of other benefits, including energy cost
reduction in both summer (shade) and whiter (proper placement can result in the
reduction of energy use by 20-50%), aesthetics, property value enhancement,
business traffic enhancement, and health benefits.
•	Conservation landscaping and gardens - Native plants, which require less
maintenance, capture rainwater and hold soils in place.
•	Bioretention cells - These features filter and reduce stormwater runoff, allowing
it to infiltrate into the ground before it enters into the storm drain system. Runoff
from impervious surfaces that cannot be altogether removed or replaced with
permeable pavement will be treated with this practice.
•	Educational signage - Signage will educate residents and visitors about the
various stormwater practices and features in the neighborhood.
SUSTAINABILITY & GROWTH: ADDITIONAL GREEN ACTIVITIES
Ashland has successfully promoted environmental stewardship and green initiatives.
The Town has been designated a Tree City USA for 22 years and has set a goal of
increasing its current tree canopy coverage to 57% by the year 2030. Town Officials
have worked closely with developers to advocate LID features to reduce local flooding
and runoff pollution to Stony Run - a 7 V% mile tributary to the Chickahominy River.
The Town has also invested money and time towards stream restoration efforts such as
the Randolph-Macon College student-led effort to restore a heavily urbanized creek
and conduct a ten-year study to determine the impacts on fish and wildlife habitat and
sediment pollution.
Ashland now lias other low-impact
projects in the works, such as
retrofitting the Police Department's
parking lot with permeable pavers,
and the resurfacing of 550 linear feet
of a neighborhood street with
permeable pavers and a bioretention
system. Also in progress is the first
phase of construction in a streetscape
overhaul to help address stormwater
drainage problems via bioretention
systems in the Town's central
downtown commercial strip along
Railroad Avenue.
G3 Grant Awarded:
$25,000
Match Contribution:
$220,000
Status:
Completed
TREE CITY USA*
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Project Partners: Town of Ashland,
Chesapeake Bay Trust, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
For additional information: visit wvwv.epa.gov and www.cbtrust.org.

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