Wetland must be protected or flooding and reduction of quality of Beaver Lake will continue

Redraw the curb connection in front of our house so that we will continue to be able to back out of the driveway somewhat safely.

PROTECT the riparian corridor as is. Listening to the replay of our Ward/Neighborhood meeting from May 15 on TV16 the final time last time, I heard Todd say that they would remove shoreline understory vegetation "so that people could enjoy the creek." That would, of course, heat up the water so the fish can't enjoy it! And it would go against the resolution passed a few months ago by this council to protect our riparian zones.

Between the removal of riparian vegetation upstream on the UA campus, several construction projects there and the current condition of Hill Place as it was abandoned by Aspen Ridge, the water quality as decreased exponentially. It is shallower when there is no rain and deeper (rises higher) and a greater flood risk when rain is falling.

Grade down the land north of the Moody property along South Hill to the same as the Moody property and eliminate the unjust, uncomfortable situation now facing the Moody family. They lost the majority of mature trees along the north edge of their property because the people working on Aspen Ridge piled that mass of dirt for their buildings and parking area that the roots were covered and cut and, one day, they moved the silt fence over against those trees and destroyed even more roots.

Finally, the land south of the walking bridge on the east side of the Town Branch should have all infrastructure and fill dirt removed and be restored as a natural stormwater retention garden for the eastern portion of the complex.

That would be the only change that could provide anything approaching the level of stormwater protection that land this provided in the past.

See photos of that wooded wetland taken before it was dredged and filled for Aspen Ridge. It was a natural storm garden that allowed the Town Branch to spread and reduced downstream flooding. In dry weather, there was no standing water, only flow areas fed by upstream springs.

Both timbered and grassy or brushy wetland must be spared from development wherever it is found if water quality and flooding problems are to be reduced in the Beaver Lake watershed.


May 20 City Council meeting archived video