I’ve always had a pet peeve when I hear or read about property descriptions, especially when they come with regulatory issues attached. The Nov. 29 News-Herald had two articles with property size considerations related to wetlands.
Page 1 reported that the airport project must be rebid due to the Army Corps of Engineers denying a temporary road permit because 750 square feet of a “wetland” would be impacted! This could be an area measuring all of 25 feet by 30 feet that would not be a very viable wetland, if it is one at all.
The second article was part of the EDA business report on page A9 concerning wetland delineation at Cedar Grove Business Park, at a cost of $2,640. With 16 “wetlands” on 55 acres, and two new ones of 0.25 acres each, property novices among us should realize that 55 acres is less than one-eighth of a square mile section and that a square acre is just 208.71 feet on a side; meaning that the new quarter-acre sites probably measure 100 feet square, as the other 16 could also be! Again, are these truly “wetlands” or just wet lands about the size of residential lots in Grand Marais?
Land managers are accustomed to the above. It behooves the rest of us to have better understanding of, and the consequences to, the regulatory jargon we hear.
Richard Buchheit
Grand Marais
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