Mowing error may have led to $950,000 land purchase in Newport News

Daily Press ^ | February 16, 2012 | Joe Lawlor

[liberalh8ter]

City Engineer Everett Skipper said once Newport News mowed the land, it became responsible for monitoring the wetlands on the property, which was owned by NewDunn Associates.- who were overjoyed at their sudden turn of luck in being able to unload the worthless property at taxpayer expense. Originally intended for capitalistic purposes, environmentalists rendered it worthless which forced NewDunn to carry the property as a negative asset since its purchase.

Finished it for the author.

[csvset]

Don’t forget the photographs.

Yes, twenty-seven 8×10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence.

[Sacajaweau]

We haver that here, too. All the trees for the park were imported about 200 years ago and are tagged. But my favorite place in the Park is Shakespeare’s corner...with all its poison plants.

[Sacajaweau]

My bet is that the complaitant was a politician..one of them do gooders.

[Sacajaweau]

And our forefathers drained the wetlands as best they could because they knew that water was meant to flow...and malaria was killing them.

They had a news program in one of these swamps which is now a park...and the media chick was being eaten to death by mosquitos right before our eyes.

Pretty stupid advertsing of the wonders of that wetland.

[Recon Dad]

I live on a golf course in NC and we are surrounded by wetlands. About 4 times a year the mowing crews from the golf course mow everything within a hundred yards of the course........that day should be called “Golf Ball Christmas”.

[driftdiver]

How does mowing result in the anyone but the owner being responsible?

[driftdiver]

The property owner probably filed the initial compliant.

[Safetgiver]

Well, I figure I have to have weinie roast for lunches, so I figure that old willer tree is as good as gone. Besides, it’s not on my list.

[jboot]

LOL, I got to do a wetlands inventory once. They are the most bogus things imaginable. You use aerial photos and soil conservation maps to prepare the survey. You only visit the site to confirm your findings and take samples and photos. Mine ended up being made into a presentation that was widely distributed at the time (and widely plagarized-the photos I took are STILL turning up on the web 20 years later).

Before you ask, I got paid hourly wages for it. In other words, next to nada. But it was gravy work, and the field survey was fun.

[ladyjane]

It’s only tax dollars. No city official will owe a dime.

[coop71]

I used to work for an environmental consulting firm. For the record, we worked for chemical and manufacturing companies helping them keep the EPA and state regulators off their backs.

That said, even we understood and appreciated the importance of wetlands - beyond the scope and demands of the government regs. They are a pain, but without them, there would be more flooding, less fish, dirtier rivers and streams, and more erosion. Those are just the tip of the iceberg regarding the importance of wetlands.

[BwanaNdege]

The definition wo “wetland” has been expended so far that now areas which no sane person would call a swamp are determined to be wetlands.

One of the criteria is the type of plant growing there.

Indicator Code Wetland Type Comment
OBL Obligate Wetland Occurs almost always (estimated probability 99%) under natural conditions in wetlands.

FACW Facultative Wetland Usually occurs in wetlands (estimated probability 67%-99%), but occasionally found in non-wetlands.

FAC Facultative Equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands (estimated probability 34%-66%).
FACU Facultative Upland Usually occurs in non-wetlands (estimated probability 67%-99%), but occasionally found on wetlands (estimated probability 1%-33%).

UPL Obligate Upland Occurs in wetlands in another region, but occurs almost always (estimated probability 99%) under natural conditions in non-wetlands in the regions specified. If a species does not occur in wetlands in any region, it is not on the National List.

Hear are the listing for North Carolina for some surprising plants that could get your property classified as a wetland.

red maple FACW+, OBL
poison sumac OBL
American elm FAC, FACW
silver maple FAC, FACW
slash pine FACW

[DUMBGRUNT]

What a scam.

"the 37-acre property in Denbigh was protected wetlands"

"the five acres that are needed to secure the legal right-of-way to build Atkinson Boulevard,"

OK to build a highway over the property, but not run a lawn mower over it?

Best not to try this in the backyard¿?

[massgopguy]

and a Rain Forest was a Jungle.

[colinhester]

Yes, twenty-seven 8×10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence.

Classic

[bgill]

“We are on the hook for $7k per year, so let's spend $950,000 instead.”

You caught that too, huh.

[Oceander]

When asked whether the city would have purchased the entire 37 acres — or just the five acres needed for the Atkinson Boulevard right-of-way — had the property not been mistakenly mowed, Skipper said it "would have been a tough call."

Hmmm, spend tons of money to buy 37 acres, or a lot less to buy just 5 acres, when all you really want or need is those 5 acres. Yeah, that's a real tough call. For a thought-challenged liberal, perhaps. For the rest of us, not so much.

[Sacajaweau]

It's not really about wetlands is it...It's about property rights.

The idea that I can't put a shed on my property because it is in a buffer area is absurd. There's wetlands and then there's REAL wetlands.

Mitigation has become the solution...and that's pretty much what the farmers did 200 years ago.

Psst...And people are paying taxes on those "confiscated" lands.

[Darth Reardon]

The Ocean goes up and down twice a day

Except for a few days a month on and after the half moons when it only goes up and down once.