BeeLiving EcoVillage Site Design Concept Ver 1

A view of the river from this part of the property will become a natural gathering point for the community to enjoy our natural surroundings together.
If allowed, stairs will be built to allow residents to walk down and have direct access to the river bank.

We keep our natural spaces alive by minor earthworks on the property to allow for a shallow stream that feeds and keeps our forest and gardens healthy and less prone to drought and fire events.
By slowing the flow of water through the property we conserve the energy and utility of water in swales and improve our soil quality.
Our goal is to capture some of the runoff from storm events to use in the community.
By our community taking part in managing our rainwater capture, we help the city of Maple Ridge lower the peak usage of both our storm water and water treatment utilities as a whole.

A few Mobile ADUs will be used as temporary visitor suites for guests visiting family and friends in the community.
These same units will be a potential revenue source for the community for outside guests when not needed by community members.

To make our community safer to play in and encourage personal interaction, parking is strategically placed to the side.
By having dedicated community-based car share, our neighbours will have variety and choice in vehicles and possibly reduce our requirement for personal vehicles and parking spaces.
We will build infrastructure for the upcoming transition to support electric vehicles within the community.
Bus service is available at the main road and secured storage for bikes and other transportation options are planned.

Instead of starting from a property that's had all trees and foliage removed, we are planning to build around the existing trees and keep the natural spaces wherever possible.
The existing forest is around 60-80 years young, and will allow our community to better connect with nature.
Our goal to live more lightly on the planet starts by keeping as many of the existing trees as possible and supporting them.
The trees provide privacy for the community from the road and maintain the green spaces that are currently disappearing in the neighbourhood.

The workshop will allow our community to be resilient and build and repair for ourselves.
By having our own workshop we will have the ability to support our own small businesses and create jobs right within our community.

Our homes will be built in units of 6 and 4 apartments each to increase our community's density and smaller buildings will fit among the existing spaces on the land between the trees.
Each duplex or triplex will have upstairs and downstairs units.
The homes will be built to high standards of energy efficiency.
Our homes will incorporate sustainable features such as rain water capture and heat pumps to conserve and reuse our most precious resources: water and energy.
We estimate that we will have 12 units for rent and 12 units for sale, each at affordable rates that are not-for-profit in perpetuity. Should our plan be approved, this could be a total of around 24 units.
The goal is to have the society own the land and manage the rentals, and all families - renters and owners, will live intentionally in a socio-economically diverse and affordable cohousing community.

Cohousing groups are built by the group bonding over community meals held in our community building.
The community building is a place to organize together and put our community goals into action.
By planning for rooftop greenhouses, the community can grow food protected from animals and for 365 days a year.
The community building can enable medium scale harvesting and food preservation for the community's health and benefit.

The central green area could allow for multiple uses as the community determines their needs.
An open natural space that our community will decide the appropriate use for when the time is right.
Options can include (but are not limited to) a children's outdoor play area, garden or greenhouse space, or deck area for gathering.

Outdoor community gardens are fed by the stream and swale which preserves moisture and helps soil quality.
Small trees could be planted to help support a resilient agriculture system and food forest.

A small commercial building helps support local community jobs and would help provide monetary support for the Ecovillage community.
A small retail option for the neighbourhood would allow a close-to-home shopping option for Silver Valley that reduces the need for extra car trips for the greater community.

Since the community is located directly beside a forested river area, living in harmony with animals is important to our respect for nature and security.
Multiple passable areas prevent animals from being trapped as they travel. This will help prevent dangerous animal encounters that occur in other neighbourhoods that have continuous row-homes and fences.
Measures to detect animals traversing the property and creating a detection and warning system for our security and animal watching enjoyment would be sample projects our community can work on.

Side paths will be generally blocked to protect children at play, but wide enough for emergency vehicle access.
Permeable roads will better blend and interact with the natural surroundings while they aid in the natural absorption of water into the ground. This lowers the risk of flooding during storm events.
We will reduce carbon by building permeable roads and parking lots.

Side paths will be generally blocked to protect children at play, but wide enough for emergency vehicle access.
Permeable roads will better blend and interact with the natural surroundings while they aid in the natural absorption of water into the ground. This lowers the risk of flooding during storm events.
We will reduce carbon by building permeable roads and parking lots.

With city permission - we intend to incorporate space for some tiny homes to be located on the property.

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