The state Court of Appeals has delivered a setback to environmental groups who argued for a broad interpretation of a state law protecting coastal marshes. The unanimous ruling says, the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act does not apply to residential developments on land above the marsh.
The ruling is a disappointment to enviornmental groups, who argued the law does apply, since run-off from upland development is harmful to rare species and salt marshes along the state's 1-hundred-mile coastline. The developer whose project sparked the case, Mark Flasky, says he's grateful Cumberland Habor seems back on track.
The project is 1-thousand-acres across the marsh from Cumberland Island. Officials at the Southern Environmental Law Center, a lead plaintiff in the case, say they might appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
The ruling is a disappointment to enviornmental groups, who argued the law does apply, since run-off from upland development is harmful to rare species and salt marshes along the state's 1-hundred-mile coastline. The developer whose project sparked the case, Mark Flasky, says he's grateful Cumberland Habor seems back on track.
The project is 1-thousand-acres across the marsh from Cumberland Island. Officials at the Southern Environmental Law Center, a lead plaintiff in the case, say they might appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
