Every rural community which has had central sewers installed has soon lost it's character forever. Why? The simple reason is that central sewage systems pretty much always lead to increased growth, higher densities, bigger buildings on smaller lots, etc., etc.. The proof for the latter can easily be seen today in Matlacha, where older, smaller homes were bought, knocked down, and three story "mansions" built in their places, crowding out neighbor's views, blocking light, sending cascades of water down onto neighboring homes from roofs, etc.. One reason this was allowed to happen is that, because Matlacha is on the central sewer system, no space on any lot must be reserved for septic systems and drain fields. The size of your new home determines how large the septic drain field must be. If there's a central sewer system, the home size is limited only by the setbacks and height restrictions specified by Lee County. In Matlacha, that is 25 feet from the street, 7 feet on either side, and only five feet from the seawall for decks, pool cages, etc.. While the effect is not so obvious on larger, off water lots, the same setback values hold true, so it would be very easy to have a six bedroom, five bath 8000 square foot home built on an 80 foot lot if there were central sewer available.
Future posts will continue to address the problems central sewers can bring. What do YOU think?
