Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
One of the things I liked most about our new Sapulpa home was the wilderness within walking distance from the house. It took some getting used to, not having sidewalks for daily walks, but the abundance of trees and wild growing plants was like hiking in the mountains to me. I was walking my dog Sally regularly on the street, one block from my house. It is a dead end street with a church as the turn around. It was like walking through the woods. Sally has slowed down the past few months, and today was the first time in months that I have walked down that road. I wanted to see what it looked like, as a few of my neighbors told me it was quite the sight to see. I knew the property had been sold and that there were plans to build multiple houses on it. I could see from my street that it appeared they were doing some major clearing of trees.
When I first started walking down this road, I remember being told about a car that was buried in the foliage just off the road. It took me a while to be able to find it as it was in the thick of it for sure. It became easier to see when winter weather took away many of the leaves. Being a hard core car guy, I often daydreamed about how this car would, and should, be saved. I was pleased when it was one of the first things removed when the clearing began. I don’t know where it went, but I’m sure it will once again be seen on the road. It was an early 70s Chevelle, which is a highly sought after muscle car in this day and age. I have no doubt that someone is loving on that car right now.
From my house, I could see they were cutting down a lot of trees and burning what was left. Now I am only one neighbor away from this deforestation and my heart went out to those neighbors whose property separated us from the carnage. From our vantage point we could see that it was bad, but was blocked by several houses from seeing it as total devastation. I figured I had better see this for myself. I gasped when I first laid eyes on the extent of the clearing that had gone on. I remember a few years back when the utility company sent out some guys with chainsaws that cut the branches away from the power lines. They butchered the trees with no consideration of the aesthetics of these trees, and after they finished, it looked like a small tornado had gone through this street. That was nothing compared to this. It now looks like a landscape you might see in Nevada.
I’m sure that it will all look fine after the homes are built, and new trees get bigger, but that’s going to take years. I’m not sure any consideration was even given to leaving some of these full-grown trees alone. I would think they could build houses around them. I’ve seen many developments that have successfully accomplished that. My Junior College in Stockton, California was built on an abandoned State Hospital property, and they built the entire new campus around the trees. The architect was proud to say that they only had to remove two trees in the entire build. (and they planted many more than that)
We still have a wooded area across the road from this, so I would hope that any misplaced animals and birds could find new accommodations. Let’s see if anything good comes out of this project. My heart goes out to my three neighbors that share a property line with this project, and especially my neighbor whose property is right in the middle of all this. Before this, his home was completely hidden from view on any street in the area. Now it is fully exposed, as if he is now naked and afraid. I certainly would feel that way.
