Scouters Mountain

Project Completed: In Progress

Holt Homes

Located in the serene environment of Happy Valley, Oregon, Scouters Mountain is a residential community that includes the 148-acre former Boy Scouts of America property (Scouters Mountain Camp), along with a few other adjacent properties—hence the development’s name, Scouters Mountain. The meticulously planned community offers a variety of amenities to enhance residents’ comfort and convenience. From top-notch recreational facilities to easily accessible main roads, Scouters Mountain caters seamlessly to its residents’ every need.  

This 223-acre housing project stands out because 90 acres of the land were set aside to preserve and protect wildlife habitat, wetlands, and tributaries to Rock Creek, a local native fish-bearing stream. After carefully and collaboratively selecting native plants based on their ability to provide wildlife forage and cover, as well as how well they adapt to the site’s conditions, our team preserved more than 26 acres of healthy vegetated areas and provided 2.17 acres of voluntary enhancements.

A neighborhood street with a crosswalk, pedestrian island at the intersection, a sidewalk and grass on the left, and houses to the upper right

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Our team provided the conceptual and final design for a new 4.1-acre neighborhood park to serve this unique area. Throughout the development process, we have worked closely with the City of Happy Valley, as they will take over the park’s ownership once the construction is completed. The final design included over 2 miles of trails, of which about 1 mile is included in Metro’s Mount Scott/Scouters Mountain Trail Loop system. There were existing trees on the site, so design elements were carefully placed to preserve as many trees as possible while meeting the functional needs of the surrounding community. The neighborhood park is scheduled to be completed in the upcoming phases of development. It will provide additional recreational value to the extensive open space network within the Scouters Mountain community.

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Park amenities include the following: 

  • Tennis court and a flexible use lawn area 
  • Dog park 
  • Paved trails 
  • Covered picnic shelter with public restrooms 
  • A large multifeatured playground area 
  • Lots of open space 

Pocket Parks: The residential community plan involved two pocket parks, one of which has already been fully designed and constructed. 

Nature Paths: After being designed by AKS civil engineers, our landscape architecture team assessed the site for optimal locations for added benches, considering the surrounding plantings, key viewpoints, and typical user behavior.  

Community Center: Our landscape architecture team also designed the amenities and landscaping for the new community center, which opened in May 2023. 

Roundabout & Neighborhood Entrance: Our landscape architects collaborated with our civil engineers during the design process of a newly constructed roundabout on SE 145th Avenue. The new roundabout entryway, local art, and street frontage improvements welcome residents and visitors to the neighborhood and enhance the Scouters Mountain Nature Park entrance. Although a local marketing group selected and designed the structures, our team designed the footings and landscape surrounding the metal art structures, ensuring the final selections were aesthetically pleasing as well as easy to maintain.

CIVIL ENGINEERING

Residential Site Planning & Design: Our team designed the 600 lots for this six-phase development of detached single-family homes. In the first phase, our team encountered sensitive natural resource areas and steep slopes covered in timber that required extra teamwork with our other service departments to meet Holt’s construction schedule.

Trail System & Pedestrian Bridge Crossings: Our civil engineers also designed 2.5 miles of new paved trails that meander through open space and vegetated areas, including 1 mile of trail that now belongs to Metro’s Mount Scott/Scouters Mountain Trail Loop system. The new trail system also included two pedestrian bridge crossing designs, which required additional coordination with the natural resources and landscape architecture teams.  

NATURAL RESOURCES

Our natural resource team was one of the first components of the project, mapping out existing wetlands, tributaries, and high-value habitat on the 223-acre project site. They worked collaboratively with our engineering and planning teams to establish a layout the meets client project goals and City standards while protecting and preserving high-value resource areas. The project was developed to avoid impacts to more than 26 acres of forest and wetland habitat, including 2.17 acres of voluntary enhancement to degraded areas, which included removing invasive Himalayan blackberry followed by installation of native plants selected specifically for their ability to provide wildlife forage and cover. 

To ensure the project would not have an impact on native amphibians or migratory birds, our natural resource specialists conducted an amphibian survey and migratory bird nest surveys. The team prepared a Joint Permit Application (JPA) for unavoidable minor impacts within jurisdictional drainages for road and pedestrian trail crossings. These crossings are essential to the City’s Transportation System Plan (TSP). 

LAND SURVEYING

Our land surveying team provided property boundary and topographic surveying of the planned development on this 223-acre property. The property had multiple owners and consisted of 14 separate tax lots. They also conducted a property boundary survey in preparation for property line adjustments, easements, and negotiations with other landowners.

CONSTRUCTION SUPPORT

Our team also provided construction surveying services, including staking and as-built drawings for this multiphase residential development.

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