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URBFORESTS
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<br /> on beleaguered Chesapeake Bay. :\ regulations that nce ; b \1, A bn,cinr,e cribiu (:L■h,rl
<br /> buffer of trees protects the fragile bay, clearing land in order to meet ! Q� =;:i���,�(,1+ i i:ri.rrrj Ira New l nnrn:unit rr; is
<br /> and homeowners can stand on the construction standards: ! ' How (a.•,riable jrwu AIA
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<br /> • balconies of their Sl i 5,OOIl to S2f0,()0O requirements for unnecessarily •...•t - "t !
<br /> condos and reach out and touch a tree wide roadtvays, for example, •. •1 i ! i i1,� and cooperation by the city of
<br /> • trunk. The development has been certi- and inflexible setback and : (.1. Iiotrie.ind Prince George's •
<br /> • fied as an urban wildlife sanctuary and grading rules. ( ounty permitted the follow-
<br /> : has even received an environmental Mike Rose first put together C.•r:
<br /> . ing departures from tradition-
<br /> I award from the Izaak Walton League. a tree - saving team back in 4 " :;�;1 :• _ - • .d building standards and
<br /> 1d)i 5. 1 lis landscape architects, "'` practices:
<br /> ose built the condos on three- tree surgeons, and urban , IIII11i;1!i!IiIIIffi• • Northridge's roads are 22
<br /> foot -high pilings atop beds of foresters helped compile a list , feet vide instead of 311, saving
<br /> clamshells so that stormwater of v 'aiyers contained in a two- inch - eight fret of trees throughout the
<br /> could seep underneath the thick book developed over eight subdivision.
<br /> • houses. That wav he avoided months' time and costing S50,0(10 in • Curbs and gutters are eliminated
<br /> cutting trees for storm+yater- retention legal and engineering fees. m favor of grassed drainage s+vales
<br /> ponds. Runoff is further filtered The aim, was to create a community with a natural, country -like look. Side -
<br /> through forest vegetation before it with country lanes, mature trees, and a %Yalks are replaced by a network of
<br /> reaches the waters of the bay. The settled -in, "at -home feeling that cannot forest trails.
<br /> buffer of trees was preserved intact by be duplicated in stark, sterile commu- • Grades are steep, 2:1 slopes to
<br /> i bringing construction materials in by nities that subdue nature and then try reduce the amount of land cleared (see
<br /> barge. What's more, indigenous trees to recreate it." (Yep, those are the Figure I ).
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<br /> • were supplemented by approximately words of a ,fr•ta•lola•r, not the Sierra • Setbacks for building pads are
<br /> 100 oaks, pines, and fruit trees trans- Club.) reduced from 10 feet to four feet to •
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<br /> • planted from a nearby farm. Some of Mike Rose's revolutionary ideas s save trees.
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<br /> the transplants were 30 feet tall, and impressed the proposed project's • An interlocking network of green-
<br /> the survival rate was ..... _ . . , neighbors that they ways and buffer strips permits wildlife
<br /> i 95 percent. ! attended the local to move freely.
<br /> The Solomons Land- 0' I planning commis- • Cul -de -sacs have vegetated
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<br /> ing marketing e. .:v • - - -- . -. : lion's hearings and islands to e li m inate th u sual regula- •
<br /> brochure looks like a .1;,;_� "- testified in favor of tion- mandated expanses of pavement. •
<br /> nature guide that -I !' \orthridee —on • Roads and houses are sited to o
<br /> cou have been put ! . , = their own initiative. save significant trees, and driveways
<br /> out by the National • • "You can show and utility trenches for adjacent houses
<br /> Park Service. The i : your neighbors are consolidated 10 cunt?ne distur-
<br /> brochure concludes • • -2 ` you've done Your bailees to specific corridors.
<br /> with a well-researched "4" �� � .' , homework," says Bulldozer operators at Northridge
<br /> and useful section, "A i4 i,r. . Rose, if one of helped string barbed wire flagged with • Doren Ways To Save 1.► _`,. them gets up and plastic strips to indicate areas desig
<br /> the Bay," to hel } _ says, ' I've �+a lkr.i n.i tr�i out-of-bounds during cot,siruc
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<br /> homeowners preserve ! that ground for the Lion. Barbed wire has the psvchologi
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<br /> the development's love -- - ' • last 21) years, and ca effect of telling people to kee rot.
<br /> . impact on the natural Loco/ irui6lirr; rev/hi/ions often there's a tree over Any bulldozer operator who knocked •
<br /> ecosystem. require 3:1 slop cs here that 1 like,' and down a section of wire was required to
<br /> Northridge, in a that rrrcess111 r uttiu� 11 large You ca n say, • • The get oft hi machine and Ieaye the site
<br /> • rapidly growing number raj tree. ,r< ryrirr'•d hi tree you're referring to go for a sledgehammer to pound the
<br /> • suburb of the nation's 'fresher 2:1 :/op, that c i;41 IV Wes. to is a 32 -inch oak, stakes back in —a time loss that tends
<br /> capital, is a huge and +•e'll do every- to upset the bulldozer jockey's super-
<br /> development of 855 thing vve can to visors.
<br /> townhouses and single - family homes save it.' They'll understand you Workers were required to park their
<br /> on 344 acres of rolling countryside. respect the environment as much as equipment and their own vehicles in a
<br /> Northridge breaks all the rules—liter- they do. That starts your relationship single parking area to prevent
<br /> ally —to save trees. That is, Rose out on a different level." widespread soil compaction andl
<br /> obtained waivers to local and - county Boldness on the part of Mike Rose motor -oil leaks. Before construction
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