Tree City, or 60% Impervious Cover Be Damned

Edgewater has recently been designated a Tree City, which apparently qualifies us to accept aid from the Arbor Day Foundation. One would assume that a town would have to prove its interest in trees to qualify for foundation money to plant them. We don't know what criteria the Arbor Day Foundation used, but below is a sampling of current home construction in Edgewater.

Every day new two-family structures go up, surrounded solidly in paving stones, replacing older homes that had yards, and, yes, trees. There's nothing to stop people from cutting down large old trees. So we could (and do) cut down 100 old trees in our residential neighborhoods for every little sapling we plant in front of our highrises.

Impervious cover, meaning materials that do not let rainwater or runoff seep back into the ground, causes flooding and pollution.We've been told by councilwoman Neda Rose that there is an ordinance on the books requiring homes to have no more than 60% impervious cover, meaning stone or brick or cement or the house itself. It is easy to see that the builders of these new homes have figured out a way not to comply with this ordinance. They've either gotten variances, or they just ignore the law. Our local government aids and abets this.

A cute set of twins on upper Undercliff.

 Another set of Undercliff twins, these on the corner of Palisade Terrace. You can see why Edgewater has been selected a Tree City!  Why, you can hardly make out the houses behind the forest.

Undercliff again. The trees are just breathtaking. And if you look closely you can actually tell these houses apart.  An architectural plus!

This pair is on Leary Lane.

Everyone who knows what this will look like in five years, raise your hand.

Seriously, we have not seen one new house that has a green space attached to it. Not a lawn, nor any shrubs worth mentioning.  All are bricked and cemented. The impervious cover is close to 100 percent.

There are ways to protect a town from this sort of plunder.  Why haven't our officials enacted the proper legislation and enforced it?  Is it because there are better benefits from the hands of the developers than from acting in the best interests of our society?

© 2008 Independent Coalition for a Better Edgewater