Mistakes in Case Against NOS

In case you have not gotten the news, the rezoning issue will not go before the CPC tomorrow. It has been moved to its Thursday, November 18^th, meeting rather than the November 4^th meeting. The CPC meets in the Council chambers of City Hall at 1:30 p.m. Please send your comments now to Maria Acosta -AcostaMD@elpasotexas.gov and let the CPC know that you support preserving land in the NW Master Plan as Natural Open Space. If you can, please plan to go to the meeting on the 18^th. It is important that we have as many people as possible attend this meeting.

Please email the Mayor and City Council Representatives – especially the Mayor and your City Council Representative.

Just so you know – Council voted on October 6, 2010 to direct staff to rezone land along Trans Mountain as Natural Open Space (NOS). The City Council Plan has undergone staff review and next goes to the CPC on November 18^th for its recommendation. It then goes back to Council for a final decision. The date it will be included on Council agenda has not yet been set as far as I know. On October 6^th, 5 representatives voted for it: Lilly, Byrd, Holguin, Ortega and O’Rourke. 2 voted “no”: Emma Acosta and Carl Robinson. Rachel Quintana was absent. The Mayor has said he will veto the Council Plan to rezone although he may be operating under some mistaken notions. 6 votes are needed to make it veto-proof or override a veto.

In his reply to emails, the Mayor has said some things that are mistaken:

First, he has said that there can be no construction in the Natural Open Space zoning. He contends that Trans Mountain can’t be widened under that zoning – so the TxDOT project will be killed. The fact is this: The PSB already transferred right-of-way for the highway to TxDOT in exchange for conduit under the road in 4 locations. So widening the road to 4 lanes is perfectly okay. We prefer at grade. The Open Space Advisory Board recommends that Paseo del Norte be re-directed to Plexxar near Gas Line Road and a road from there be built to the State Park entrance. This will make accessing the park much safer.

In a form response, he wrote:

Actually, we are dealing with two issues. The first involves pending residential and commercial development between I-10 and the State Park. Developers already own the land and under Texas law have the right to develop it. We are working with them to assure that any development protects the scenic corridor into the Franklins. We have negotiated successfully to limit the height of signs and to receive many acres of land for hike and bike trails and other amenities.

Yes, private land can be developed in accordance with zoning requirements and building codes. However, he insinuates that all of the land from I-10 to the State Park is private and so we can’t do anything. The fact is that only a portion of the land from I-10 to roughly the Gas Line Road is privately owned. From the Gas Line Road to the State Park the land is owned by the City of El Paso and managed by the PSB. It’s our land, folks, and we sure can rezone it as NOS. Go here for maps showing distances between private and public lands along Trans Mountain from Interstate 10 to the Franklin Mountains State Park.

John Cook goes on to say:

“The second issue is a highway project that will widen transmountain[sic] road to four lanes and provide limited access from the adjoining properties. It is important to note that property owners currently have the right to access transmountain[sic]. Could you imagine dozens of private driveways feeding into the highway and what that would do to safety? The current plan would limit their rights and build overpasses.”

Actually the Mayor’s sentence, “We have negotiated successfully to limit the height of signs and to receive many acres of land for hike and bike trails and other amenities”, belongs with his second issue. Lifting MDA requirements (e.g., signage) along the privately owned portion of Trans Mountain is a carrot stick (not yet agreed to) so that developers will give up right-of-way to TxDOT so that there won’t be “dozens of private driveways feeding into the highway”. What this really means is that developers and not the City (or NOS advocates) seem to be holding up the project because they want some concessions from the City!

His reference to “hike and bike” trails is the proposal to continue the pattern of the Pat O’Rourke Trail along Resler parallel to the frontage roads in the TxDOT proposal from I-10 to Plexxar. It has nothing to do with the City Council’s plan to rezone land nearer to the State Park as NOS. By the way, the Open Space Advisory Board agrees with the hike and bike trails and has advised that there be extra space in the buffer zone between bikers and pedestrians and the roadway.

Along with his message, some of you have received a copy of the PSB “Fact” Sheet. Here is a copy of the text on the sheet along with rebuttals.

Finally, there is still time to sign the petition and gather more signatures. Go to www.franklinmountains.org to download the hard copy of the petition or ask others to sign online at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-el-pasos-franklin-mountains/. There are now 1,050 responses online and over 1400 signed petitions. The Montoya Gardens Neighborhood Association turned in over 120 petitions just today!