Holden Beach, North Carolina, is planning a low-impact development of luxury eco-friendly homes on an old lakeside site where sand and marl was harvested.

By redeveloping this previously disturbed area, developers avoid building on a pristine or undisturbed habitat, but home buyers get a premium waterfront view. The 100-acre development being developed by Stone Chimney Development Company will be the county’s first to use low-impact standards prior to the county’s mandate to build in environmentally considerate ways.

In an effort to add no new pollution to the local waterways, houses will feature native-plant rain gardens designed to capture stormwater runoff. The system will capture, treat and use rain water for the native-plant landscaping throughout the development without washing deposited pollutants into tributaries of the Lockwood Folly River.

The state’s Division of Water Quality and Coastal Federation have worked closely with the property owner and developers to ensure that the project will not hinder ongoing restoration of the local watershed and will help prevent future pollution of the area’s waterways.

Photo courtesty Wikimedia Commons