Every detail of Stone Canyon, from initial planning to landscaping, has been designed to preserve and promote a harmony with the environment. We believe in following Nature’s lead in restoration and design by building beautiful developments intended to compliment an area rather that merely consuming the space.

The property of Stone Canyon was identified as a place that held this kind of unique opportunity. A specialized team of experts was engaged at the beginning to form an action plan around the idea of creating a custom home golf course community on this long-admired tract of land. With a portion of this land having the history of being used as a quarry and another portion as a landfill, the site had some unique characteristics that needed to be wisely considered and reclaimed for improved environmental use. In a collaborative effort with the City of Independence, Brownfield Solutions, Greg Norman Golf Design, and Woods Development, solutions both for the environment and for the development began to unfold.

This land clearly retained the wonderful scenic character typical of the Missouri countryside - and we loved it! Paramount in the planning of both the golf course and the community was the value of retaining and preserving this beauty, even at additional capital expense. As discussions progressed, it became an easy choice to partner with Greg Norman and the Greg Norman Golf Design team to achieve our goal of bringing harmony and productivity back to this particular location. The design team painstakingly studied the natural attraction of the landscape, along with any implications of its former use, and devised a plan to maximize all that this land had to offer.

Rather than discounting the land’s prior use, the Greg Norman team put the land to work to create a world-class golf course while restoring use and enjoyment to a place that had remained underutilized for years. As you walk the golf course, for example, you will notice impressive boulders and rock formations throughout the course. These are visible remnants of the quarry that once operated here and now remain to reveal the rugged, natural attraction common to Missouri’s rolling hills. This mystique is evident nowhere more than the backdrop of the green at Hole 12. At what is sure to be one of our signature holes, the green at Hole 12 is surrounded by a 6’ vertical stone wall that has been left in its natural state to provide a stunning backdrop for the game. Exposed rock formations add visual interest along Holes 1, 2, 13, 14, and 18 as well.

Continue through the course and you will be struck by the extensive, lush greens and fairways. Making spectacular use of what was once a landfill, the Greg Norman team transformed this previously wasted land into six amazing holes in the golf course, creating an immaculate, natural environment befitting its surroundings. These holes are now some of the most picturesque and challenging points of the Stone Canyon course.

Taking the restoration of the land further yet, the Greg Norman team, having a world-renowned track record of land reclamation and environmentally-savvy land use, determined to build the Stone Canyon course with the long-term benefit of Nature in mind. The team proposed the recycling of a common byproduct of former landfills, methane gas. Methane gas is the primary constituent of the natural gas that we use in our homes every day.

To facilitate the recycling effort, Cornerstone Engineers, industry leaders that have helped to develop and shape solid waste and environmental technology over the past 30 years, were engaged to devise a cooperative system within the design of the course to not only control the emittence of methane but also to harness and utilize it as an energy resource for the daily operations of the golf course. The result of this forward thinking was the creation of a blower system to collect and direct any methane from the landfill into a location where it can be used to produce electricity. The Links at Stone Canyon will utilize part of this energy to maintain its operations. What was once wasted land has become a natural, renewable source of energy that will last for many years.

As homes are constructed at Stone Canyon, every home will be equipped with a gas intrusion system to ensure the on-going safety and satisfaction of residents. These systems connect a simple perforated piping to solid pipe to provide a vent for any unwanted gas before it reaches the interior of a structure. While it is unlikely that residual methane will be allowed to bypass the blower-driven collection system, this venting will protect homes and other buildings from methane build up, enabling the best use of land, the utilization of its energy resources and the enjoyment of its natural beauty with peace of mind.

At Stone Canyon, we are excited to participate in leading the construction industry in innovative land reclamation and renewable energy utilization. Though Stone Canyon is not the first community to make such a bold investment in the permanency and planning of the land, we are one of the few in the Kansas City area to do so. We believe that these invisible but important environmental decisions are vital to the future of our community and to our planet. As a resident of Stone Canyon, you’ll love your home even more, knowing that your treasured space has been designed with care and concern for its long-term use and enjoyment and with intelligent attentiveness to the environment.

If you have any questions about Stone Canyon land reclamation or its renewable energy system, please feel free to give us a call. We’re proud of what we’ve done and we would love the opportunity to brag a little more. Once you build your home in Stone Canyon, you’ll know exactly how we feel.

After years of planning, work, and design at Stone Canyon, we’re proud to say to you and to Mother Nature, “Welcome home.”