No-net-loss rules force landowners to pay dozens of acres for one
Across many U.S. jurisdictions, “no-net-loss” wetland ordinances compel property owners to restore far more acreage than they disturb, often at prohibitive costs.
A growing number of U.S. cities have adopted “no-net-loss” wetland ordinances that require landowners to replace or enhance many times the area they develop, rather than the intended one-to-one swap. In Long Beach, Washington, a developer touching a fraction of an acre may be forced to restore up to twenty-four acres, with fees calculated through a complex point system that can change dramatically based on tiny measurement differences.
Similar schemes appear in Covington, Lake Forest Park, Issaquah, Mukilteo, Lake Stevens and Vancouver, as well as in states like Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina and Oregon. Illinois’s Mazon even uses a botanical index that obliges owners to create up to ten acres per acre impacted. The article contends that these inflated requirements raise development costs, deter investment, and push up housing prices, especially harming small landowners and builders.
It calls for judicial review, noting recent court decisions that demand a clear link between imposed burdens and actual environmental impact.
Why it matters
The rules can make building homes unaffordable and may violate constitutional property protections.
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