Much has been written in the Cape Gazette about wanton forest destruction caused by too many residential subdivisions in Sussex County, some pretending to be "superior" cluster designs. I want to propose a new idea – afforestation, which is defined as the act of turning land into forest.
Recently, I visited a project I designed back in the early 2000s called Bay Pointe when I worked for Blenheim Homes. It is located in lower New Castle County just north of the C&D Canal and west of the Delaware Veterans Cemetery. The land did not have access to public sanitary sewer, so we ended up designing a plan for 167 single-family home lots, all with on-lot septic systems. The lots range in size from 0.75 acres to 2.25 acres. The project, almost 300 acres, has about 95 acres of open space, and this is why this project is unique and could be used as a new and better alternative for Sussex County.
I was able to convince the owner to abandon the age-old idea of just creating acres of mowed open space. Instead, I proposed – and he agreed – to install more than 58 acres of new forest and almost nine acres of pure meadowland requiring minimal maintenance. There was also three acres of existing forest, which we did not touch; everything else was vacant farmland. My recent visit was very heartwarming! All of the 58 acres of 4- to 8-foot native trees that we planted in 2004 have matured to 30- to 40-foot-high trees in just 20 years! The meadow is also still in place.
Please keep in mind that this afforestation and meadowland was in addition to paved walking paths, a tennis court, a basketball court, a large playground, a large gazebo for shade, and a large grassed multi-purpose field – all for just 167 homes!
Why can't builders/developers in Sussex County who have built projects with many more lots and much smaller lots add trees to their open space? Why is it all mowed open space and lots backing to stormwater management ponds? I think we need a new environmental morality here in Sussex, and I hope Sussex County Council will seriously contemplate these questions as they attempt, later this summer, to improve the current deficient land development regulations.
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