Nature Done Wright

Wanted to report that the Allendale Planning Board voted unanimously last night, despite the Fyke Nature Association's objections, to approve the site plan for a three-house subdivision on Ivers Road that will double the volume of water leaving the property.

It was a long uphill battle, or in this case a long upstream battle, and board decided to go with the flow.

While we are disappointed with the decision, we did succeed in raising the board's awareness of the Celery Farm and its flooding problems.

We still have a lot of work to do in that regard.  One Planning Board member referred to the CF as "the Celery Pond" last night, and the engineer for the applicant said more than once that having all that storm water flow to the Celery Farm was a good thing because it acted as a giant retention basin. Board seemed to tacitly agree with that sensibility… I got the impression some Planning Board members have never been to the Celery Farm and do not understand its value, despite our efforts to the contrary.

Just wanted to thank everyone who attended meetings or voiced their support. It was truly appreciated.