The Flooding of 221 Trimble

Across Cary,  yards, crawlspaces and cars are flooding with greater depth and frequency.   Aging and neglected storm water systems have not kept up with Cary’s aggressive high density development.  As storm water velocity increases,   it floods homes, erodes private property, washes away retaining structures, and undermines foundations.

This man-made flooding is called “urban flooding”.   And as Jon and Catherine Ayers found out, it is a direct intended result of city policy and planning.  With their home and yard at 221 Trimble Avenue  flooding regularly, they took their case to the Town.  An engineering study was eventually performed .  The engineers found that the Town’s  storm water drains at Brookgreen Drive, were grossly undersized and proposed improvements to eliminate flooding.

For 1/3 of the cost of their $1.2M fountain, the Town Council could have upgraded  downstream drains, saving the Ayers family’s home and many others  from future flooding. But they chose not to.  They choose instead to payout the tax value and demolish the home.

“Your backyard is their storm water retention pond”

The Council’s ruling on the Ayers’ home, clearly reflects its broader intentions. The Town does not plan on alleviating the flooding.  It plans on increasing it, buying out the homes it floods along the way,  below market value.

Undersized road crossings and drain pipes serve as dams, turning yards and homes into retention ponds. Without our yards and crawl spaces to hold the rushing storm water,  the Town and its high density developers would have to spend big money on land and infrastructure to contain the huge volumes of runoff they generate.

Of course the Town Council does not require storm water impact studies  before it approves high density zoning changes, Neither does  it  mandate storm water retention ponds and systems be built for new upstream development. Why should they? They’ve got our yards to use instead.


It you think the Town cares about you, your family or your home, think again. You’re simply a cost trade off….

this:

vs this:


References:

221 Trimble engineering study

Minutes from Town Council Meeting

1978 – Floodplain map Cary’s Scottish Hills area: