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Permalink Reply by Moe on April 25, 2012 at 3:31pm

This story reminds me of a situation I encountered in Stark County, Ohio about 35 years ago. Fast-growing portions of the county had virtually constant development of new residential subdivisions. The typical process involved stripping all of the topsoil from the proposed development area - it was usually farmland so the topsoil was thick and fertile - and putting it into stockpiles. Once this was accomplished, it was sold to contractors who would load and haul it to subdivisions with homes being built , and sell it to builders or home buyers to place on the finished lots. While it added a cost to the new home buyers, it actually made the entire land development process more economical because mass grading could be done without the cost of handling the topsoil and there was less likelihood that it would be wasted by indiscriminate grading.

 

However, neighbors in nearby subdivisions complained very vocally about dust, truck traffic, noise, etc., and petitioned local governments to ban such activities. They conveniently chose to ignore the fact that they benefitted from identical previous activities which provided them with suitable growing media for their lawns and gardens. In some cases they were successful in blocking the topsoil transfer operations, but in most cases they lost the argument as long as the removed topsoil was not transported out of the township from which it was stripped.

I find it both interesting and irritating that so many vocal people who take positions against any particular activity are often the most offensive hypocrites regarding the very subject they are opposing. I guess their opposition is directed only at other people, not themselves.

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