As Galveston Sinks, "The Preserve" - 3,900 Unit Development - Planned For W. End Of Island

[hatrack]

GALVESTON -- This island city is in the midst of a building boom. The only problem? Galveston is sinking. It is sinking so fast that some scientists say the fragile West End of the island, which is not protected by the Galveston seawall, could lose parts of the coastal highway -- and blocks of beachfront homes -- in the next 60 years.

The debate isn't just an academic exercise being played out by scientists. The largest development ever proposed for the island has raised questions about whether it's smart to build a large resort in such a vulnerable area. The 3,900-unit project -- known as The Preserve -- would bring high-rise towers, a golf course and a marina. Not only do residents worry that it will change the character of that part of the island, but there is also concern that it will harm beaches and wetlands even though the development would include a nature preserve.

Galveston isn't alone in grappling with such issues. Just across San Luis Pass in the Treasure Island subdivision on Follets Island, one house has literally gone out to sea, with waves breaking beneath its support beams. Farther west in Surfside, homes that were once part of a subdivision are now standing on the beach and are being demolished.

The entire upper Texas coast will become more vulnerable as some sections continue to subside and, if scientists are correct, the seas begin to rise faster as a result of the melting polar ice caps. "The upper Texas and Louisiana coasts are sinking at a rate faster than anywhere else in the United States," said John Anderson, a Rice University oceanographer and author of The Formation and Future of the Upper Texas Coast.

EDIT

http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/196012.html

[phantom power]

1. Apparently Rita didn't give them the pause for thought I assumed.

[acmavm]

2. Developers don't care. They'll build anywhere on anything. They sell the

property, they're gone. Take that money and run.

[wordpix]

3. you're right. The US gov should pass a law they're not bailing out anyone building or buying in a

floodplain, sinking coastal zone or storm surge zone. I'm tired of paying taxes for people who want to live stupidly close to water and greedy developers.

[ramapo]

5. Subsidy to the rich

You are exactly right but it'll never happen.

Waterfront property, and anything close, is the most valuable. Prices for homes and condos along the New Jersey shore are absurd. Much of our coast is barrier island, aka one storm from oblivion.

Semi-worst case is a big storm hits and destroys much property but leaves enough sand to rebuild on. Guess who foots the bill to help those with million dollar homes (a large percentage nowadays) rebuild?
The rest of us who are smart enough not to buy property that is one day going to disappear.

Your solution would provoke an intense outcry. People would be much more upset about that than they are about the war, global warming, and the financial crisis because it would put the responsibility squarely on their shoulders.

Best case? The whole island washes out to sea after an orderly evacuation and we don't have to rebuild the properties. Unless they make the Army Corp of Engineers rebuild the barrier islands.

[wordpix]

4. "The Preserve" with 3900 units? That's absurd