Monday, October 27, 2008

Stormwater management a local issue that requires local effort

American Rivers organization offers basic information on managing stormwater
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aubrey, this is a very good document. It addresses much of the needed municipal government level policy changes that need to be made. Currently, permitting a LID or TND project in Fayetteville is much more difficult than a standard RSF-4 type sprawl development. Part of the problem is that citizen groups are so opposed to growth in general that they tarnish the developments that go above and beyond the norm and could be very good precedents for low-impact land developments (ie. Hill Place and SouthPass; both of which, you have personlly opposed). We need to find a way to work together to change the internal policy of the City and its departments. People like you need to realize that professionals like me and the developers I represent can be a pathway to better design, and are not always the enemy. One problem with documents like this one is that they are full of good ideas (and this is the first one I've seen that identifies actual practical measures a municipality can take; kudos) but typically fail to address the nuts and bolts (ie. engineering) of the solutions. There are groups in the private sector such as Appian, Sarah Lewis, etc. as well as folks at the University and internal to the City's staff that are trying to push the envelope to get these types of practices implemented as policy. We need the politicians (especially Lionel-D; I still don't see why you support him so adamantly given his failure to take a leadership role in the past when given the opportunity) to see past their noses and political campaigns and realize that the rhetoric needs to translate into internal policy at some point.

October 27, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Anonymous said...

Aubrey, I thought you might like this document too:

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/stream_restoration/PDFFILES/ALL-SCRH-08-01.pdf

It is a huge file; took me 45 minutes to download on a cable connection.

October 27, 2008 at 10:28 AM
aubunique said...

Austin, I agree that your planning group might have done a better job of protecting the environment had you done the original work on Hill Place. However, the people whose plans were used were the fourth or fifth group that had worked on the Aspen Ridge plan.
The first or second group was the UA design center and their plan protected much of that overflow area that wasdredged and filled just north of Hoodenpyle's place and on the east side of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.
As you know, we are looking out our windows at land that was to hold a condo and it has been donated as a park. However, it has not yet been graded down to the level it was before Aspen Ridge destroyed it. The black soil remains buried under a mass of yellow dirt, rock, gravel, old pieces of silt fence, and other debris. It is essentially impervious at this moment.
And I remain concerned that the filling of the dredged out right of way that I call Brooks Bayou will include material other than the original black prairie soil with its likely still viable seed base of mostly native plants.
Those are two of the areas that can return to their status as a part of the "green infrastructure" of south Fayetteville, allowing wildlife corridors and connected natural waterflow systems.

Not permanently destroying the land before construction and clearing resufacing the very minimum for construction, preferably without any concrete pads, etc., is primary to creating a truly harmless project.

Residents who could see the total unsuitability of building on the magnificent wetland prairie and savanna and overflow bottomland hardwoods where Hill Place is now going and people who saw the unsuitability of building on the steep wooded slopes that are becoming Ruskin Heights were ignored in the mayor's made rush to bring in tax revenue that a time when the market was already weakening for more housing. And hundreds of low-income dwellings were removed for the Aspen Ridge project starting in 2003 and the woods were cleared in 2005, destroying even the campsites of the homeless, some of whom were displaced from the three mobile home parks to make way for Aspen Ridge. In late 2005, there was such a shortage of truly affordable old houses and trailers and inexpensive apartments that Katrina's survivors were sent to the old jail or subsidized in more expensive apartments by FEMA.
It is the callous disregard of less fortunate human beings and other living things that is most offensive about the demand for growth at any cost.
About Lioneld: Lioneld has never lied to me! And he learns everyday. He listens to and considers everyone's point of view. In the mayor's seat he will have time to learn more and will use his time well. He will be where he needs to be to get the job done.

October 28, 2008 at 7:07 PM
Anonymous said...

Aubrey, one thing I can say for sure about you is that you are a good man, regardless of how much we disagree. I do have a lot of respect for you. It really hits home for me when you make statements like "the callous disregard for less fortunate human beings" that society tends to forget. I do appreciate your kindness and your gentle spirit.

October 29, 2008 at 9:26 AM

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