Yancey Branch was just a small meandering stream passing through Daphne’s Village Point Park on its way to Mobile Bay. Its narrow banks, lined with native trees and plants, often completely shaded by branches meeting overhead, provided shelter for wildlife. Turtles sunned themselves on half-submerged logs while nearby, deer quietly sipped water. This little stream was a piece of unspoiled nature-a place for visitors to enjoy and for local flora and fauna to be protected from encroaching development.
This is how it was until the City of Daphne decided to fix a minor flooding problem on some high-rent private property down by the bay. Not only was the city going to do good by protecting property values, but they could do it with other people’s money. Somebody in Daphne figured that Hurricane Katrina damage restoration money, apparently crying out to be spent, could be put to use to “restore” Yancey Branch. This is not to say that Yancey Branch was damaged by a hurricane – in fact the flooding problem reportedly existed before anybody ever heard of Katrina. But the pull to do something-and spend the money -was irresistible.
So this little stream ceased to exist and has now become what you see there today: a storm drain. The meanders and pools, the green shrubby banks and overhanging branches, the plants and wildlife are all gone. In their place is a shallow ditch as straight as an engineer’s transit can make it. The banks are stripped of vegetation and covered by mesh to prevent erosion. The former stream now possesses all the natural beauty of a parking lot.
After the fact we learned Daphne wasn’t supposed to do it this way. They got approval for minor adjustments to the stream bed and were directed to coordinate final plans with the Alabama environmental folks and the Army’s Corps of Engineers. The absence of environmental concern and management oversight is supported by comments attributed to Hutchinson, Moore and Rausch, Daphne’s engineering consulting firm. Speaking to the lack of coordination, a partner of the firm airily dismissed it all, saying in effect, that he was unaware of the requirement and even if he had known of it, Hutchinson, et. al. was under no obligation to coordinate. What arrogance, what hubris, what chutzpah.
And what was done about this failure to coordinate? Nothing. In fact the engineering firm had its contract with the city renewed shortly thereafter.
It’s sad to have had this happen, but sadder yet that Yancey Branch is just an example of widespread indifference to the environment and to the natural beauty of the Eastern Shore. What is defined as progress, commercial necessity and economic interest, too often is actually just expediency, lack of imagination or a slash-and-burn approach to development – possibly all three.
Take the high-rise overlay zone along the bay in Daphne. Why is one necessary? Well the council approved a high-rise as an exception and then couldn’t say no to others. And why was that first, precedent-setting, bay-front high-rise approved? Well, the developer asked and they didn’t want to seem unprogressive – or some such ad hoc, poorly thought out response to that very first request. That first project never broke ground, but the city is now stuck with having to allow high-rises on the bay.
Next look at the Eastern Shore Center. It’s a real asset to Spanish Fort and the Eastern Shore in general. The core is an attractive, generally upscale, modern “Life Style” center. But along the side of the center that faces I-10, the side most visible to the thousands of cars that pass by, we have a bargain-hunters strip mall. Worse, it is the rear of the stores that face the passing public – with blank walls, delivery bays and giant trash containers. And just to ensure that it achieves the highest possible level of visual blight, the natural screen of mature trees that masked all this from the Interstate, was eventually allowed to be removed. Why? To let people better see the stores (or at least their butt-ugly backsides). Evidence of little concern over the appearance of the community by its leaders. And also a reminder of why dogs got tails.
And last, is there ever going to be a major subdivision that isn’t green-lighted by the planners and city councils? Sure, if a whole bunch of citizens get all up in arms there may be a concession or two, a brief delay – maybe. Run-off concerns, even flooding. Not a problem – especially if the developer’s site engineer and the city’s consulting engineer are one in the same. Traffic problems – not to worry – even if there are 800 new homes being planned around a congested intersection. It’s all OK, because just like the high-rises that aren’t there, it will be years (decades?) before enough gets built to be a problem. Approve the projects, let them denude the land, put up a model home and then watch weeds grow and red clay run off into the streams and on to the bay.
Yep, Yancey Branch is a symptom of a much bigger, more pervasive problem. But even by itself the passing of this minor stream is worth a passing thought.
Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
Archives
Jubilee
