Extreme Wetland Intrusion

How Louis Capano III solved his $10 million problem near Bethany Beach

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2019/04/26/capano-develop-bethany-beach-wetland-novel-workaround/3564820002/

• Xerxes WilsonMaddy Lauria, The News Journal - 4/26/2019

Location on Google map: Michelane Ct, DE 19930

Some quotes from the article:

"It is the first time I’ve seen anything of this nature," said Ed Bonner, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia region regulation office, which is responsible for overseeing construction in most Mid-Atlantic waterways.

For environmentalists, the bridge illustrates why Delaware officials shouldn't rely on the federal government to protect local habitats.

This particular wetland is small and not influenced by the tides, so it receives no regulatory oversight from state or county officials.

The nearly 2-acre property is delineated on state and federal maps as an isolated, freshwater wetland, a natural feature that is capable of providing habitat to rare or endangered species and soaking up floodwaters from storms.

If this project had been proposed in Maryland, New Jersey or Pennsylvania, it may not have been allowed because those neighboring states have rules about developing on freshwater wetlands, Bonner said.

Delaware, with the exception of local regulations in New Castle County, does not.

“Freshwater wetlands in the state of Delaware are experiencing a death by a thousand cuts,” said Brenna Goggin, director of advocacy and external affairs at the Delaware Nature Society. "Where we're lacking is the political will."

Politicians and activists have discussed protections for such land several times since former Republican Gov. Michael Castle took office in the early 1990s, Goggin said. Over the years, legislation has been proposed, tabled and gone nowhere.

"In this case, you are looking at an elevated structure. It is basically a bridge," Bonner said. "The structures are not considered fill so there is no permit required."

Had a significant amount of filling, like a traditional, ground-based roadbed and foundation, been sought on the land, the federal permitting process could have been triggered and the Capanos could have been asked to reconfigure or scale back plans to use the land, Bonner said.

The last time Delaware environmental regulators completed an inventory of the state's wetlands, they found more than 3,000 acres statewide had been lost.

The primary cause of the most recent losses? Residential development, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

“We don’t know what’s been done, unfortunately, until it’s too late,” Goggin said.

About 25 percent of the state's entire land area is considered some type of wetland. About 30,000 of those wetland acres — more than half — are freshwater wetlands with no local regulations to protect them, according to DNREC studies.