L. Michael Hoffman

I am located in Jacksonville Florida.

I do not wish to draw unwanted attention from governmental agencies while going through our platting and zoning process. Nor do I want to tick off my future neighborhoods prior to having our parcel approved by the land use and zoning committee. I also don't plan on actually launching a war party against my neighbors and entering into permaculture valhalla.

I work for one of the City's many departments of making you sad and deal with neighbor disputes all day everyday.  This issue would be labeled a civil issue between neighbors and closed out. My mother worked for the city's environmental quality department for 35 years and they just defer to the state which also doesn't care too much.

I have spoken with multiple agencies (local, state, & federal) and they all say what you can't do but, nothing about what you can do to improve things.

It would be hard for me to prove that damage has occurred as the subdivision by the property has been there for about 25 years.

What are your thoughts about the potential accumulation of herbicides and fertilizers in wetland areas?

Do you think the sheer volume of water moving across the landscape is enough to mitigate the chemical runoff?

I appreciate the feedback.

Backstory:
Twenty years ago my wife’s parents purchased a 5.5 acre parcel of land in town with the idea of splitting it up among their children. We are now splitting up the property and going through the motions with the city and plotting out parcels.  I chose the southernmost portion of the property as it secluded, has an unobstructed southern exposure, and has been undisturbed for at least fifty years. Our lot is 1.21 acres with an additional .33 acres of city owned easement that is only accessible to us. Roughly .4 acres of our lot has been deemed wetlands; the wetlands area along the western property line is muddy in the rainy season and the wetlands area along the eastern property line contains cypress trees and standing water year round.  

My concern:
Our western property line abuts a cookie cutter subdivision that slopes down towards our wetlands. When it rains runoff from at least three yards flows through our wetlands, accumulates in a low spot, and then flows off of the property via an existing drainage ditch system. Based on an average rainfall of 50” and the size of the abutting yards (71,001sqft total) that is approximately 2,213,018 gallons of tainted water making its way through our property yearly.

My thoughts:
I am torn on what to do about the situation.

I could put my needs and well being above everyone else by thumbing my nose at the county, state, and federal governments by illegally digging a trench along the property line, lining the trench with a non permeable material, and then direct the contaminated water away from the wetlands and directly into the drainage ditch. Doing that could possibly allow the wetlands to heal over time but, I would just be putting that much more polluted water directly in the waterways and possibly hurting ecosystems downstream.

I could do nothing and just let the water pass through the landscape but, I think that the continued accumulation of toxic lawn “care” products is going to have dire consequences for the wetlands on our property. I could try putting in plants that work to clean the water like broadleaf cattails but, as most herbicides target broadleaf plants I am not sure that would be an option.

I could form a raiding party, raze my neighbors’ houses to the ground, and annex their lands but, I think that would be considered, by some, to be rude and antisocial.

I have read through the forums and listened to the bulk of the podcasts but, I can not find an answer to my dilemma.

I am attaching a map of the property.  My parcel is outlined in red and my in-laws are outlined by green and purple. The arrows represent the way water flows over and through the landscape.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

Thanks.