Despite compelling evidence provided by Friends of Ten Mile Creek and other partners (MCA's testimony here) that the newest round of development in Clarksburg will result in significant degradation of two of the most sensitive portions of the Ten Mile Creek watershed, Planning Board chair Casey Anderson prefaced his vote in favor of the project by saying that while he did not like the project, the board had no jurisdiction to alter the proposal. Planning Board member Tina Patterson, citing concerns over cumulative impacts these developments will have on important water resources, was the lone dissenting vote. For the specifics of the concerns raised with this "Creekside" Development, please read on below.
From our Partners at Friends of Ten Mile Creek - concerns yet again that the impervious surfaces (pavement) of proposed development projects in Clarksburg will foul the source of back up drinking water for 4.3 Million in our region.
The Planning Board hearing for the proposed Pulte Development "Creekside at Cabin Branch" is now scheduled for December 3, 2020. This hearing will determine the development plans that Pulte has put forward. Your letters and support for the preservation of the Ten Mile Creek Watershed are truly needed if we have any chance of reducing this poorly conceived development.Our concerns are the following:
- According to the county Master Plan, impervious levels (the amount of pavement that allows runoff into streams) in this fragile headwaters area of the watershed can not go above 5% impervious surface without serious degradation of Ten Mile Creek and the reservoir. An investigation of the project shows impervious levels will reach between 7-12%.
- The 5% cap enshrined in the Master Plan is based on decades of water quality monitoring. Development projects in this fragile area must be curtailed to preserve our drinking water supply. Pulte's "Creekside" project must be reduced in scale by 50% and remove the two portions that plunge deeply into the watershed.
- Adjacent Cabin Branch Creek also feeds the reservoir and has impaired water quality as the result of a massive development. We have the opportunity to avoid this mistake in the County's most fragile watershed.
