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Flood Insurance
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Letter
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Issue about? Click here |
OUR FIFTH YEAR
In helping MCC prepare for the March
16,2004 Appeal before the Warwick Zoning Board board member Jan Reitsma
reviewed all MCC documents. He then wrote this brief summary of our
position that wonderfully captures what we are about. It remains as true today as when first written.
The Mill Cove Conservancy (MCC) seeks to preserve the historic, cultural
and environmental qualities of the Mill Cove neighborhood, consistent
with the Comprehensive Plan adopted by the City of Warwick. Through
cooperation with responsible agencies and officials, we want to ensure
that the Comprehensive Plan and related regulations are implemented and
enforced so as to provide adequate protection of public safety
(especially from storm damage), the environment (especially from
erosion, runoff and pollution), the character of our neighborhood (from
overly dense or oversized development) and the fiscal health of both the
neighborhood and the City (from unnecessary fiscal impacts relating to
flood management and/or cleanup of pollution).
The MCC is not
anti-develop ment, nor interested in making life difficult for people
trying to use and enjoy their property. We are trying to make sure that
the qualities that attract people to our neighborhood will be there for
future generations to enjoy. This cannot be done unless we are
affirmative in protecting these qualities and, at the very least, apply
and enforce regulations that were adopted for that purpose.
In recent
years, several residential developments, specifically foundations, have
received local approval even though they do not appear to actually meet
common-sense, minimum requirements that would protect the dwellings from
significant storm damage, such as has been incurred during past
hurricanes. Inadequacies include foundations on slabs instead of
pilings, depth of foundations well short of the frost line, inability to
either withstand or accommodate storm surge, etc. In addition, it seems
that not enough attention is being given to storm water impacts from the
increase in impervious area near the shore.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency defers to local government and is
reluctant to override its decisions. It has clearly indicated, however,
that it agrees that more aggressive flood protection is needed, both in
the review of individual applications, and through proactive hazard
mitigation planning. We believe that the City has fallen behind in this
regard and is allowing development to occur in a manner that is contrary
to the provisions of Comprehensive Plan and to the spirit, if not the
letter, of applicable federal, state and local regulations.
We are concerned that failure to enforce the rules allows developmen t to
“cheapen” to the point that it can rapidly fill in our remaining open
space, encroach too closely onto the shore, reduce public access,
interfere with the dynamic barrier beach and other coastal processes
that define this special area, and compromise efforts to restore water
quality in Mill Cove and its tributaries such as Buckeye Brook. For this
reason, we have no choice but to challenge decisions we believe fail to
provide the protections that we as citizens have a right to expect. We
are hopeful that we can sit down in the near future with City officials
and others to address our concerns in a more proactive manner. |
