Letter: Riparian ordinance: R.I.P.
To the Editor:
It is encouraging that the township commissioners have finally listened to the objections to the riparian ordinance. Now is the time to bury it forever. Attention, commissioners: The taxpayers and property owners of Springfield Township do not want you to implement additional ordinances that control our property or our lives unless there is clear proof of the benefits to the people of Springfield Township.
This ordinance (and any revision) does nothing to alleviate flooding in the township. The flooding is caused by the fact that most of the bridges in the townsnip are built below the level of the 100-year flood plain. With heavy rains, the bridges act as dams and create temporary lakes on the upstream side, which in turn block the storm drains.
If this statement is incorrect, I would like a statement of a registered professional engineer, not some college professor who supports the riparian ordinance on the basis of personal opinion, as has been done in the past.
Planting trees in areas where these temporary lakes are formed will only increase soil erosion. The ground becomes saturated from these "temporary lakes," and the trees will be blown over by winds from storms, thus tearing up the ground to be washed away. Well kept lawns will do more to prevent soil erosion than the trees required by the riparian ordinance.
If support is needed for this opinion, the earthen dams in Pennsylvania have been endangered by the do-gooders who planted trees, with the same result described above.
Note from Doug Heller: I apologize, but I am missing the end of this letter. If you have a copy, please forward it to me.