Gledhill Estates

Comprehensive civil engineering, surveying, and permitting services helped shape the vision of Gledhill Estates, a 15 unit open space residential community. The project reimagines the former Gledhill Nursery—a 7.9 acre site with decades of agricultural use—into a thoughtfully planned neighborhood that retains and celebrates its natural character. Designed to promote open space, homes are sensitively clustered within two private cul-de-sacs, allowing for the preservation of expansive wetlands, ponds, mature trees, and walking paths. The result is a community that balances density with environmental stewardship while offering residents meaningful access to passive recreation and the surrounding landscape.

A key component of the project was navigating extensive and complex permitting requirements due to the presence of approximately 0.75 acres of wetlands, Hart Meadow Brook, FEMA-regulated floodplain areas, and other environmentally sensitive features. Solli Engineering led coordination with the Town of West Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission, Inland Wetlands Commission, FEMA, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) to secure all necessary approvals. This included detailed floodplain analysis, wetland delineation, environmental impact assessments, and mitigation planning, as well as preparation of detailed engineering reports to demonstrate compliance with local, state, and federal regulations.

The site was fully engineered to support buildout of all 15 housing units and supporting infrastructure, including approximately 655 linear feet of private roadway, utilities, drainage systems, and stormwater management features. Solli’s layout reduced overall impervious coverage compared to existing conditions, improving runoff quality and peak flow rates while enhancing the site’s natural hydrology. Additional elements included lot line revisions to maximize development potential, traffic analysis, and integration of low-impact development strategies such as vegetated swales and level spreaders. Through informed planning and engineering, Gledhill Estates successfully redeveloped a historically significant property into an environmentally responsible and well-executed new neighborhood that preserves its landscape legacy while meeting modern housing needs.