"The Bulldozer Caper"----How the wetlands won one.

Residents of East Main are speculating currently that the DNR came to Evansville last week and stopped contractors from moving dirt into the wetlands adjacent to the Romano's Restaurante.

Some pundits were scrambling to find something in the proposed Uniform Design Code that could have been a giant enforcement tool to prevent such a brazen violation of wildlife. It was easy to find in the proposed Uniform Code to be discussed tonight at City Hall====section 3.1, 3.2, or 3.3. Here is one of the sections: (page 2 of handout)

"Wetland areas adjacent to Lake Leota or Allen Creek, wetlands within areas having special wildlife and other natural values, and wetlands having an area of five acres or more should not be allocated to any development except limited recreation and should not be drained or filled. "

Some pundits have speculated that the land adjacent to Romano's might not be "special" enough under terms of the proposed uniform code. Maybe there were not enough "natural values."

This type of language is going to be reviewed tonight at the meeting at City Hall at 6:00PM.

What are the "natural values" that will be protected? Will the new code stop bulldozers in their tracks? Stay tuned.