Our Bay: Developer praised for stormwater control

It's not often that developers and environmentalists find themselves congratulating each other, but there they were last week, marveling at construction techniques at a new Millersville housing development.

The 73-home Preserve at Severn Run features natural techniques to control polluted stormwater runoff that's normally damaging to the environment.

Instead of having a giant stormwater holding pond and large pipes that dump rainwater into a local stream, the project has a shallow earthen bowl planted with water-loving plants that soak up the rain. In the event of big storms, excess water will be diverted to a long,...