Give Land Owners Chance To Do Right

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Out of principle, we cannot support something as restrictive of private property use as Fayetteville’s proposed streamside protection ordinance before there’s at least an attempt at a voluntary program.

We understand that one property owner who does everything “right” to slow runoff can be completely undermined by a neighbor who doesn’t. That was a factor in deciding to pursue a law rather than to encourage people to follow guidelines. Still, we believe the public would have responded well to the call. In our view, the city is considering the last resort first if it passes a law.

The power of asking someone to be a good neighbor should not be lightly dismissed. Subtle as it sounds, there’s a difference between doing what you should without being asked and not doing what you should after you have been asked. It’s one of the differences between a city and a community.

If the council decides an ordinance is needed, at least we can appreciate the simplicity of the ordinance. Water runoff is a complex subject prone to complex regulation, but the city opted for a simple 50-foot buffer rule (with some additional space on steep slopes.) That’s easy to interpret and apply. Any property owner with a longenough tape measure could go onto his or her land and see what this ordinance would do. The city’s decision to go the simple route was deliberate - and appreciated.

We hope that if this law passes, the city will work with property owners who are hurt most by the restriction.

There’s more than one way to stop runoff from getting in a stream. Some of those methods might prove expensive, but the subject of runoff is a well-studied one. If a property owner is willing and can afford to use catches and barriers - or if the property owner can’t, but is put into a hardship by the restriction - we hope the city uses the flexibility it would have under this proposed ordinance.