Land & Development Issues
CRWC is continually reviewing and commenting on development permits and plans. We’re asked to consider the impacts they will have on wetlands, sewage, water consumption, open space, and rivers. We suggest changes to safeguard community water and preserve land. When a development proposal is out of scale or slated to impact or destroy sensitive habitat, we encourage the consideration of alternatives.
Sources of negative impacts on rivers and community water don’t always occur at the water’s edge. They are often the subtle, cumulative results of developments, large and small—built on ill-advised floodplain plots or sited haphazardly in upland settings that erode habitat and water quality in the drainages below. Sometimes developments can be scaled down, or moved altogether, to find a better fit in the landscape. Often a project that might negatively effect pristine habitat or chew up open space can be reconfigured to use a “brownfields” plot, easily and inexpensively. This protects water, conserves community resources, maintains open space, and combats “sprawl.” Common sense siting -- and the use of the latest water-conserving construction technologies -- benefits everyone.
Since early in 2008 in the Maromas section of Middletown, CT, CRWC has been involved with citizens and city and Army officials in trying to find the most suitable site for a new Army Reserve Training Center proposed for the city. The large-scale development potentially impacts Middletown’s remaining open space and sewage treatment infrastructure.
We regularly submit comments to the MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act) Office on developments such as power plants, "big box" stores, highway projects, transfer stations, streambank stabilization, and dredging projects.
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Photo credits (above): USGS
Image Credits at Right - Illustrations: Bill Singleton; Photos: ©Al Braden www.albradenphoto.com, CRWC Staff.
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