deforestation—your voice matters
Hey, What’s a Bulldozer Doing in that Low Impact Development? by Jennifer Mackenzie The Oxford Dictionary defines low-impact as: “[An activity, industry, or product] affecting or altering the environment as little as possible. For example, ‘bring a portable stove for low-impact camping.’” The Cambridge Dictionary defines low-impact as: “not having a large effect or influence.” Collins Dictionary states: “Low-impact projects, developments, and activities such as vacations, are designed to cause minimum harm to the environment.” You get the gist of what low-impact means, right? It surely sounds commendable. So how does Low Impact Development (LID) benefit our local area? Andy Wood, conservation biologist and Coastal Plain Conservation Group Director, sheds some light on how he sees LID in the residential building process: “Technically, Low Impact Development relates directly to stormwater management, and nothing else. People hear a subdivision is going to be a ‘Low Impact Development’ and they relax—but then they see that every tree and every shrub has been ripped out, and every creature living at or above ground level has either been run off or run over.” All of a sudden it sounds alarmingly like our Oxford Dictionary campers tipped over their eco-stove and burned down the forest. Can this really be how it works? Let’s look at a local example of Low Impact Development: Clayton Properties Group, Inc. (Mungo Homes) is in the process of building 137 houses on 64 acres of forestland adjacent to Abbey Nature Preserve in Pender County. The development will be known as “Indigo at Abbey Preserve.” In 2023, Pender Planning Director Daniel Adams told Port City Daily, “The developer has proposed to design this project to meet the standards of Low
Photo by Maksim Safaniuk | Shutterstock
Bulldozers and other heavy equipment such as this excavator with grapple are used to clear forest for new development.
Impact Development as prescribed in Article 7.14 of the County’s development code, which is the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).” Article 7.14 of the UDO states, “In an effort to balance development needs with natural resource protection and enhancement, additional design and dimensional flexibility are offered to projects designed utilizing Low Impact Development stormwater management techniques.” What “additional design and dimensional flexibility” translates to is a 25% reduction in lot size, from 12,000 square feet as designated by the land’s current zoning of Residential Performance (RP) to 9,000 square feet. That’s a significantly higher density awarded to meet “development needs.” Adams told Port City Daily, “The design engineer will have to certify that the project meets the LID standards in our ordinance.” However, Ryke Longest, the CoDirector of the Environmental Law at Duke
University School of Law, cautions against sole sign-off: “Let’s be clear: when an engineer signs off, they are certifying that the plans are safe. Their license is on the line in terms of safety. But to prove that a project meets all the requirements of an ordinance, you would need something more than a set of sealed plans. Compliance with a legal ordinance is not just the practice of engineering. The notion that because somebody seals something, that that protects you from having to enforce an ordinance or check behind it makes zero sense as a matter of logic.” To put it another way, who will certify a balance between development and natural resource protection has been met—and specifically, which natural resources are we talking about? Per the August 19 article in Port City Daily, Adams indicated “He’d be hesitant to use the term ‘clear-cut,’ but confirmed Mungo Homes will be clearing the land to develop the site.” (continued on page 7)
6
www.goinggreenpublications.com
Cape Fear’s Going Green • Winter 2023–24
