After five years of review, the Army Corps of Engineers has denied a permit for a 480-acre, controversial development project in Chesapeake, near Stumpy Lake, ruling that too much environmental harm would have resulted.
“The benefits to be derived from this project” – known as the Tri-City Properties or Centerville Properties development, consisting of 800 homes, office space and shops – “do not outweigh the substantial detrimental impacts and is contrary to the public interest,” Col. Dionysios Anninos wrote in a rejection letter this week to the developer.
Mike Gelardi, vice president of Tri-City Properties LLC, in Virginia Beach, said the company is disappointed with the decision, deeply frustrated by the lengthy permitting process, and intends to appeal.
“We don’t see this as killing the project or anything like that,” Gelardi said. “We see this as another bump in the road that we need to overcome.”
Environmental groups hailed the federal ruling with words such as “precedent-setting” and “historic.” The advocates noted that the Tri-City project would have ruined more than 180 acres of forested nontidal wetlands around Stumpy Lake and Gum Swamp – one of the largest single losses of such ecologically important features ever proposed in Virginia.
“This is a major victory for the hundreds of citizens who have worked so hard for so many years to protect these wetlands,” said Rob Wise, an attorney representing Citizens for Stumpy Lake, a local conservation group.
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2nd attempt to post
Why has the pilot not reported on Mr. Garcia's violations w/ DEQ and investigations made into trenching by the corp and DEQ? Scared? Lazy? Sitting around waiting for news to come to you while you lament lower readership? Want to censure me again for saying this out loud? Poor sad little paper needs to silence it's critics.
Private property rights?
Another slap at our private property rights by Big Brother. If the public wants to preserve land from development, the public ought to buy it at full market value.
Five years to make a decision! That in itself is a taking of the owner's use of the land. How can a government bureaucracy take five years to make that decision? Oh, I just said it. It's a government bureaucracy. Can't wait til the federal govt is running our health care system.
Lay pavement
That's all that developers understand. More pavement. Glad others are concerned with the environment.
Protect invaluable water shed
If Mike Gelardi is VP who is the President and why is he not mentioned?
I am glad somebody stood up to these greedy developers because our sitting council can not.I remember about 8-9 years ago Garcia got caught tulloch ditching off of Centerville Turnpike all the way around to Elbow road (STUMPY LAKE area) and the Army Corps of Engineers made him STOP.They did not make him fill in those ditchs so guess what.It has been draining his swamp land ever since!
Stop with the building already!
So, Mike Gelardi of Tri-City Properties wants to appeal the ruling?? Why would anyone want to build 800 homes there? Leave it be, we lost so many trees, swamps already. Tri - City prop. can build else where!!! Developers are killing our environment!! I hope he loses the appeal!!!