DEVELOPERS AND BUILDERS ARE THE TRUE ENVIRONMENTALISTS...

Why is it that Developers and Builders get such a bad rap for "ruining" the environment? Many people think that all builders do is kill trees, create pollution, cause traffic and ruin everyone's way of life. The opposite is actually more truthful.

Take for example a large piece of vacant, undeveloped land in Florida. Typically this land has been designated as agricultural, which means it was either used for crops, which could be anything from citrus to sod, or else it was most likely used for cattle.

If it was used for crops, then it typically caused pollution with runoff from fertilizer or from chemicals used in the farming process, such as sewage sludge or even arsenic.

If the land was for cattle, then the precious Florida wetlands we hear so much about were most lkely filled, bush-hogged and dried out, so as to support grass grazing.

So how are builders and developers environmentalists?

When a developer decides to develop a property, some of the things he is required to do include:

• Hiring a scientist to identify wetlands, protected species, environmentally sensitive land and anything else that might exist on the site that would need to be protected.
• Including provision for the above items in the development plan such as restoring wetlands, protecting greenbelts, providing for natural habitats.
• Removing all nuisance species such as Brazilian Pepper and Australian Slash Pines.
• Reserving anywhere from 30 to 50% of the property for open space, including preserve and wetland areas.
• Providing for retention for ALL rainwater that falls on the site and provide a drainage plan that ensures that no water drains onto neighboring properties (regardless of whether the sites nearby drain properly or not).
• Planting of code trees, vegetation and greenbelt buffer areas.
• Paying for and upgrading surrounding roads and access roads to the site.

Once the development is approved (which usually takes a minimum of 18 months and as much as three to five years), then the homeowners moving into those new developments pay taxes, spend money in the local economy, and pay water, sewer, road and school impact fees, (which not only cover the costs of the impact of the new homes but in many cases actually subsidizes the existing infrastructure).

So, farmers pollute the land and destroy wetlands, environmentalists would have us leave that land the way it is, and builders and developers are the ones who actually restore the land to the way it is intended to be, and they foot the bill.

In my book, that makes Developers the True Environmentalists.