27 Sep Preserve wetlands, or unused asphalt?

By Timothy Hullihan

Chuck Marohn, an engineer from Minnesota, started Strong Towns 11 years ago because he grew tired of the selling the false logic of car-centric growth. In November 2008, he began a Black Friday photo contest via social media. Black Friday, in 2008, was in the waning years of a long tradition of in-store shopping in large numbers — thus the nickname.

Disproving the need for massive amounts of parking was Chuck’s goal. Malls with acres and acres of parking must actually need all that parking on the busiest shopping day of the year — right? Photo after photo from around the country showed the truth — a lot of cars, a lot of shoppers, but lots of parking unused.

So why all the parking? Development regulations require it. Could the regulations be changed? Yes, but unwinding decades of belief in a false narrative is needed. Eleven years later, the unwinding continues, but numerous towns and counties around the country have become more economically resilient by tapping StrongTowns’ leadership.

Wellington may want to consider StrongTowns’ message at the over-parked Mall at Wellington Green. A developer wants to alter two wetland preserves so a restaurant and apartments can be built near the mall, saying: “These are not functional wetlands. They don’t get wet enough.”

The question Wellington should ask is, “Which should be redeveloped — acres of wetlands, or acres of unused asphalt parking?” The mall is roughly a 100 -acre oval with 30 acres of buildings, 65 acres of asphalt, and 5 acres of landscaping (wetlands not included).

I hope they choose to keep the wetlands, and, instead, master plan the mall correctly so all the unused asphalt can be redeveloped into more economically and environmentally resilient uses.