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Green Corridor Revitalization Project

Hanson, West Virginia

The City of Ranson, West Virginia, used a 2010 EPA
Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant and EPA techni-
cal assistance to evaluate, design and deploy a
variety of green infrastructure approaches to handle
stormwater pollution in the downtown area as part
of its "Green Corridor" revitalization project, Ranson's
use of green infrastructure technologies on roadways,
in public parks, and on brownfields redevelopment
projects will help meet key water quality goals in this
Chesapeake Bay watershed community, save costs
on grey infrastructure, and make the community
more livable and beautiful.

Ranson's area-wide planning was conducted together
with planning for the transformation of the city's central
commercial roadway into a "complete street." The
city also used DOT TIGER planning funds and a HUD
Sustainable Community Challenge Grant that focused
on creating a new comprehensive land use plan and
form-based "Ranson Smart Code" for redevelopment.

The area-wide planning process identified key brown-
fields sites for redevelopment and involved extensive
research, charrettes, public visioning, and commu-
nity engagement. Key brownfield sites included
the closed Kidde Brass Foundry and Manufacturing
Facility, the closed Dixie-Narco manufacturing site,
and the Charles Town Public Works Yard, a former
municipal dump. All of these sites are located along the
Evitts Run Creek, the only waterway in Ranson and the
adjacent city of Charles Town, Evitts Run Creek empties
into the Shenandoah River, which joins the Potomac
River and eventually flows into the Chesapeake Bay.
These cities have little or no stormwater management
systems in place, which will now be essential to reach
Chesapeake Bay water quality goals,

The community's area-wide plan created excit-
ing initiatives for the cleanup and redevelopment
of the targeted brownfield sites, The 8-acre Kidde

Stormwater runoff at the Powhattan Place site.
Source: U.S. EPA Region 3.

Brass Foundry is now slated to become a mixed-
use, downtown center called "Powhatan Place," with
100,000 square feet of new development planned,
including 14 new retail stores, commercial offices,
and a mix of multi-family housing units centered
around a public square and plaza that incorporates
green infrastructure, The city is using an EPA Brownfields
Cleanup grant and local resources to remove
inorganic contaminants from the foundry facility and
demolish the dilapidated buildings to clear the way
for reuse,

Before developing specific plans for the Powhatan
Place redevelopment project, Ranson requested
EPA's assistance integrating green infrastructure into
the design, EPA provided several recommendations,
including improvements to the streets circumscribing
Powhatan Place,

The proposed street redesign integrates bioswales
within the rights-of-way and along several roadways,
parking lots, and sidewalks, The right-of-way bioswales

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are designed to provide effective stormwater runoff
capture, treatment, and infiltration through biologically
active plants and soils. Due to karst conditions in the
region, the systems will be designed to promote infil-
tration in limited quantities and will operate indepen-
dently, without channeling stormwater to points down
gradient, This infiltration will help reduce the acidity of
stormwater, which can slowly dissolve the limestone
below and lead to sinkholes.

EPA recommended plant species tolerant of wet and
dry conditions for use in the swales, A greater variety
of plants will be added to the palette by regulating
the moisture in the swales, These green infrastructure
elements are expected to improve the existing drain-
age while encouraging creation of habitats, promot-
ing community stewardship, and increasing public
awareness of stormwater issues and solutions,

Green infrastructure innovations will go beyond the
planned Powhatan Place development. Ranson is
constructing a "complete street" upgrade of Fairfax
Boulevard into a grand central roadway that accom-
modates wide sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, traffic
calming, and access to transit, It also includes a
green infrastructure system with extensive bioswales,
silva-cell forestry units, and more than 2,000 trees
and shrubs planted for stormwater management and
aesthetic benefits, This Green Corridor Revitalization
project will transform Fairfax Boulevard into a mixed-
use corridor that provides affordable housing, retail
and entertainment amenities, parks and recreational
areas, and allows for easy walking and biking access
between Ranson and Charles Town,

The Charles Town Public Works and Dixie-Narco brown-
field sites are slated for a major green infrastructure
facility that will put the tools developed through the
area-wide planning process into action, EPA and
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provided
resources for a team of water quality and green infra-
structure experts to design a new community lake on
the Public Works site to handle stormwater from the
broader two-city area in a setting that will serve as a
community park and gathering space, Charles Town
will use resources from two EPA Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund grants to address brownfields
cleanup issues in these new stormwater park areas.

The area-wide planning partnership belween Ranson
and Charles Town was aided by the interagency
Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an effort
between the EPA, HUD, and DOT to promote sustain-
able redevelopment of brownfields by improving
access to affordable housing and public transpor-
tation while also protecting the environment. With
close interagency coordination and access to the
combined resources of EPA, DOT, and HUD, Ranson
and Charles Town conducted extensive community
visioning and design charrettes that led to the devel-
opment of a new master plan. The updated plan
focuses on smart growth strategies for a compact,
walkable, sustainable development that is expected
to spur job growth and economic revitalization while
addressing environmental issues in Ranson and
Charles Town.

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