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Above are 3 maps showing how land conservation affects sprawl in the Transmountain Scenic Corridor. This illustration was done by Charlie Wakeem long before the petition to conserve 792 acres (now 780) was certified. The term "Compromise Plan" was just a term but it is based on the real Wakeem map that was posted yesterday. No such compromise has been struck. Note that east is at the top of the maps and north is to the left. Gas Line Road orients and scales all 3 presentations.
The pane labeled "Westside Master Plan" reveals the unchecked sprawl created by PSB's current Westside Master Plan. It will contain the same helter skelter ugly developments currently checkmating the El Paso Northwest. There will be no sustainable, smart growth. You can forget green infrastructure, low impact development. Most of all, you can forget a Scenic Corridor. The animal crossing which TxDOT plans to build under Transmountain west of Paseo del Norte will be unusable because animals will be forced into limited habitats to the east by the PSB sprawl and won't even attempt traversing the asphalt and concrete of these new neighborhoods with big box houses near big box commercial stores.
The pane labeled "Proposed 792 Acre NOS Zoning" shows the Scenic Corridor preserved. Since this is an older illustration, it also shows the encroachment on that conserved land by the unchecked sprawl of land without Smart Code.
The pane in the middle is the "compromise" which preserves arroyos 39 and 40 and moves Paseo del Norte west.
Here's the question: Do you want what is behind Door #1, Door #2 or Door #3? The petition calls for Door#3 with a Conservation Easement (forever) and not NOS Zoning that can be changed by whim and political maneuvering - particularly in a City that abrogates responsibility to its PSB in favor of ugly sprawl - and, it must be said, more water meters, draining bolsons, large pipe projects to shift water from east El Paso (and soon agriculturally-important Hudspeth County) to large, population-thin, big box houses in the El Paso NW.
Thanks for showing that graphically - I would need to study it more, but it is not like "door #3" is shutting off all development - it is quite subtle in the grand scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, I don't drive a new Infiniti monster-SUV every 6 mos, I don't write "mortared rock" on every slope on my plans, and treat water as a nuisance, then handing off plans to some poor sucker told to "meet minimums".
Oh, I AM the poor sucker! But I'm with you to figure how to do things better!
I hate to see your city's context lost like much of Abq is.