Raleigh resident Amy Jo Edwards recently sent an email to City Councilors in response to an agenda item for the March 25th meeting of the Growth & Natural Resources Committee.
Ms. Edwards has given permission to publish her email and it follows here:
Councilors:
I write in opposition to any consideration of reducing the current UDO Forested Requirements in Watersheds.
Raleigh’s forested areas are disappearing daily as if there are raging wildfires across the city.
Considering a reduction in forested area requirements is very disturbing and counter to all the City’s Tree Canopy Protection, sustainability, water quality, heat mitigation, biophilic and stormwater management efforts and commitments.
Conversion of natural land cover degrades water quality in water supply watersheds and increases treatment costs for Public Water Systems (PWSs). Decreasing Forest Land in watersheds will have exponential negative consequences in multiplied negative stormwater impacts.
The “percentage” conflict perceived in the UDO should defer to the Higher Forestation requirement and NOT cause a reduction. Two Wrongs Don’t Make ANYTHING Right Again. The “Build To” percentage should be reduced or just left as is.
Reducing the Forestation requirement to 30% or less is a horrible anti-environmental precedent that significantly erodes our sustainability efforts, stormwater management initiatives, and future water quality controls. It is bad business, bad conservation, bad stormwater management, bad water quality management, and bad stewardship.
Reductions NEVER come back…they just continue to chop away at everything green in our City, County, and Country.
Forested areas NEVER come back.
Stand UP for the few remaining areas of conservation policy we can for sustainability, water quality, environmental conservation, forestry conservation, wildlife conservation, and quality of life in our (for how much longer) City of Oaks. Trees Atlanta, just last week at Durant, taught us what NOT to do… Reduction of Forested Land requirements are in the NO category. Our Watersheds MUST be protected.
STAND UP For RALEIGH AND VOTE NO for any further forested land reduction in our watersheds.
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