The Sanctuary recognized by Louisiana Arborist Association

By Ashton Daigle / The News Banner / February 18, 1999

John L. Crosby Jr. and Harry Crosby, of John L. Crosby, Incorporated and developers of The Sanctuary in Mandeville, were recognized in an annual conference of the Louisiana Arborist Association in Baton Rouge last month.

The brothers were recognized as developers for their work in the preservation of the natural environment during construction, and in the drafting of parameters for construction that emphasize preservation of trees and natural terrain.

The Sanctuary was planned to work within the nayral environment in a 1,170- acre area. The site is varied with stately pines, magnolias, oaks and nearly 700 acres of cypress marshes and native wetlands, which have remained undisturbed and that surround residential home-sites.

"Since day one The Sanctuary's main goal has been preserving the natural terrain and wildlife," said Harry Crosby.

His brother John L. Crosby Jr. explained the steps that he and his company have used to preserve the area while planning and building, during a recent tour of the premises.

"The biggest thing in building with trees is not altering the ground around the trees. That's the bottom line," explained Crosby. "Everything you can do to prevent that, the better chances these trees have."

Crosby went on to explain how, with usual house construction, builders usually add a fairly large amount of fill under a slab. If sloped away gradually, the fill can extend 20 to 30 feet away from the house to be.

"There is no way a tree is going to survive in that perimeter when you do something like that," said Crosby. "We minimize the amount of fill."

According to Crosby, his developers and builders build a retaining wall foundation, made from concrete block. Fill is then poured inside this retaining wall, and then the slab is placed on top. The retaining wall foundation keeps fill within two or three feet from the slab, thus protecting trees around the construction site.

"In planning, we locate all the significant trees. In many cases we literally plan and build around the trees.," said Crosby.

In building driveways, parts of the driveways that are closest are made from limestone, rather than concrete, to allow water to percolate into the soil. Also, bore utility lines are used. Although bore utility lines are more expensive, the use of them, as opposed to standard utility lines, literally saves thousands of trees..

John L. Crosby, Incorporated is a long established development and building company that was founded in 1954. The company has built and/or developed thousands of homes in areas like Old Metairie Place, Lewisburg, Beau Chene, Oak Park Gardens and Boca Pointe in Boca Raton, Florida.

Photo: (Right) Brothers John L. Crosby Jr. and Harry Crosby were recently recognized by the Louisiana Arborist Association for their work in The Sanctuary.

Photo: (Left) The retaining wall foundation is one example of the preservation of trees near construction sites. The retaining wall foundation decreases the spread of fill, which is detrimental to surrounding trees.

Photo by Marla Lee.