Also, as more people move into beach areas, they generate more trash, which attracts more foxes, skunks, gulls, and other animals that drive out or prey upon resident species such as shorebirds. Increased use of the beach by people also crowds out the birds that nest there. MAS is working to inform landowners about these issues, and Charry believes they are receptive to ideas about how to prevent or offset the effects of sprawl. Development is going to happen. Often, another casualty of development is water quality.
Pollution can enter coastal waters in stormwater runoff and by way of leaky septic systems.
Options and obstacles New England communities have tried various approaches to combat sprawl outside of their city and town centers over the years. House lot sizes were increased to keep population densities low so more schools and other services would not have to be built. But this has not worked. A lot of people perceive that large lots give them privacy or a country feel, but once the area fills up with more lots of that size you get all the pollution, traffic congestion, lack of open space that you left to escape. But, they say, a crucial measure in controlling sprawl will be to change regulations that, in many US and Canadian municipalities, make it harder to build these unconventional subdivision designs.