Don’t loosen floodplain restrictions
To the Editor:
Last week, we were informed that one of our Macon County commissioners is planning to eliminate the floodplain (development) ordinance. My small eco-tours business will be negatively impacted by this.
Creating more second homes and temporary lodging in our floodplains is not worth the long-term consequences of filling and building in the corridor of the river from which I draw my modest income, and which we all enjoy as a natural resource and defining feature of the place we call home.
I hope you’ll come to the Macon County Planning Board’s meeting on May 2 at 5 p.m. at 1830 Lakeside Drive and speak up for those who can’t. More development in the floodplain will permanently impact eco-tourism and wildlife habitat and increase risks and damage to other property owners downstream.
The one thing our river doesn’t need is fill dirt so that everyone can have their river view that wants it. We know from what happened, during Hurricane Ivan to Peeks Creek and what happened, more recently, to Haywood County during their flood — we can not continue to build on and create more impervious surfaces in our floodplains.
I won’t go into the habitat needs of freshwater mussels, nor how Haywood County now requires an act of congress to amend their floodplain protections. The local and regional experts can do that. Nor will I go into the real implications of what additional building in the floodplain means for my ecotours business and the creatures that require intact land. Let alone what it ends up meaning for Macon County taxpayers.
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Angela-Faye Martin
Co-owner
Alarka Expeditions
Cowee
