Friday, January 18, 2008

Habitat for Humanity houses on S. Hill Ave. and new Habitat proposal



PLEASE click on photo to ENLARGE
the Top photo of three Habitat houses that front on South Hill Avenue with the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River behind them and the
Bottom photo showing the Town Branch bridge on Eleventh Street with a privacy fence on the fill dirt where trees were recently removed from the riparian zone.


I agree with Jonah Tebbetts or rather whatever living person or persons actually produce
The Iconoclast
Web log that the proposed low-impact development plan for the Habitat For Humanity development in the watershed of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River between East Huntsville Road and East Fifteenth Street potentially can be a wonderful example for developers in Northwest Arkansas.

A somewhat similar project was built in Rogers but problems developed during construction and it didn't quite turnout right.

However, things learned during that process likely will help the Habitat for Humanity people and the Community Design Center people to do a better job in supervising this project on one of the few remaining wetland prairie areas of the Town Branch watershed inside Fayettevlle. Many such places (for instance, parts of the Aspen Ridge site) already have had the absorbent top layer of soil and native vegetation removed or buried under non-organic fill dirt.

The Design Center has a chance to demonstrate to developers and contractors and the people who do the actual work the best-management practices that can actually save money while protecting water and air quality and providing a beautiful place for people to live.

Only four or five years ago, a three-house development on South Hill Avenue was built on fill dirt in what historically was part of the overflow area of the Town Branch immediately north of West Eleventh Street in the very heart of the Town Branch Neighborhood.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

So you don't trust Habitat for Humanity? I give a lot of money and have got my hands dirty on a few of their projects. I'll try to worik on this one to see whether they are following through on their promises. I have had doubts in the past.

aubunique said...
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aubunique said...
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Anonymous said...

According to your photos, they don't teach their low-income buyers how to respect they land their homes are built on.
Will this project turn that around? I hope so.

January 18, 2008 10:20 PM

Anonymous said...

Isn't the house in the middle of that picture the one that harbored a meth lab for awhile? Sheriff's deputies were all around that house for days after the first owner and her boyfriend were evicted.
I drive by there everyday.