LID: It CAN be done

... and, more importantly, I really (REALLY) want to live in one.

LID: Low Impact Development. According to the LID website, it is defined as:

Low Impact Development is a new, comprehensive land planning and engineering design approach with a goal of maintaining and enhancing the pre-development hydrologic regime of urban and developing watersheds.

It also goes a few steps beyond that. It's a development that sustains human life and wildlife. It protects the land below, the air above, and the people within. It conserves resources and saves money. How can you go wrong?

Well, some say that our codes have not caught up with LID. Some say that the process takes longer, therefore is economically and logistically challenging. Some say that people just don't 'get it' yet and still want McMansions.

I'd say there's a lot of valid points in there. And that's darn sad.

The light at the end of the tunnel? It can be done. We have proof.

Madera. Oh, how I wish we had a Madera.

Madera is an example of a suburban development without the damage of 'suburbia'. Madera is within biking distance of the local university. The walkways and driveways are permeable. Stormwater is treated on-site instead of running off gutters, onto curbs, into drains, and to our rivers. The landscaping is either predominantly natural, or completely turf-free. The houses are Energy Star and Florida Water Star. The roofs have a good solar reflective index, they are oriented on the site to conserve energy and the AC systems are housed in a conditioned space to optimize their performance.

And, the communities look like a state park. This is the enticing bit for me as I regularly drag tons of camping equipment to state parks all over Florida and Georgia to enjoy the beauty of the Southeast. As much as I love camping, erecting and sleeping in a tent is not where I get my enjoyment. I think I'd rather sit on an already-built porch and take it all in.

The St. Johns River Water Management Distrcit, along with JEA, sponsored a workshop on Tuesday to explain and discuss Low Impact Development. I'm so glad I attended. Not only were there expert speakers on hand to explain low impact stormwater management, landscape, code, and policy, but they also opened the floor to discuss solutions for Jacksonville.

This has to happen here. We just have to figure out how.

Florida is going to continue to develop. That is unavoidable. So you can argue all day and night that we should leave these tracts of land alone. That they should be left as state parks and people should not move in. That solution is the utopia, but it's not the reality.

If development is going to happen, we need to do it like this.

Let's help our city government understand how to implement this. No more gobbing about how this is wrong, and that stinks, and our officials aren't doing anything to help. We need to offer realistic, sustainable solutions.

It's being done in Madera... and Harmony... Let's do it here.