Save the Franklin Mountains: Sign the Petition

First of all: Save El Paso's Franklin Mountains - PROTECT SCENIC TRANS MOUNTAIN CORRIDOR IN NORTHWEST EL PASO. Sign the Petition! Spread the word.

Let's return to the issue of the $80 million freeway to be built from Interstate 10 to the entrance to the Tom Mays unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. I have called it a greater threat than any quarry - that is, the part beyond gas line road. I've also mentioned the fact that powers to be in the City and EPWU want that fourth overpass at Paseo del Norte (east of gas line) because they want development in the foothills and arroyos abutting the State Park.

Why develop the land? The policy of CEO Ed Archuleta is to sell developable land in order to have the revenue for upgrades and the like to our water infrastructure. Developable land is more valuable than land kept in its natural space. By selling this land, they can keep your water bill low. There's the trade-off. You don't have to pay as much upfront for infrastructure. Unfortunately, the policy is not sustainable over two or three more generations. A keen observer told me just today that our water bill is too low and does not reflect the real value of our scarce water and the infrastructure that provides it to us.

If we don't develop the land and keep it public natural open space, how much will that raise our monthly water bill? Probably not that much. As far as I know no one has done the math and perhaps an independent consultant could help but certainly not the financial people at EPWU or any friendly "independent" consultant they might find. Just imagine how expensive water and the infrastructure will be one day when water and land are considerably scarcer. Your grand-children may thank you for taking responsibility now.

Besides, selling the land in the Northwest (Westside) Master Plan for development destroys the last remaining scenic corridor in El Paso: our Trans Mountain corridor. Here are the plans:

Click to enlarge

You can see the entire Master Plan here.

The map above is good because it shows you the area of land that we are talking about. You can see gas line road (El Paso Natural Gas Co. Row) to the left of the red box. To the upper right of the box is a gray line that represents the park entrance. The dotted line inside the box is Paseo del Norte. Now here is the proposed layout of land for development. Get ready to scream:

Click to enlarge

Do enlarge the map and see what is planned for commercial, residential, office, apartments, etc.

Here are two things you should know:

• City Council makes the final decision about zoning - not the PSB and not Ed Archuleta. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
• The zoning on the color map above is just a plan - that land is now zoned PMD or R-3. Zoning commercial or anything else for development is not inevitable.

If the area is to be kept as scenic natural space, it should all be rezoned NOS - Natural Open Space. That is why you should Sign the Petition.

More later. This is a big subject and there are plenty of documents and pictures to share.