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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

LRC Meeting on Comp Plan Tomorrow Morning!


We are into the final countdown to approve Plan El Paso, the Comprehensive Plan Re-Write. Some powerful interests in the community would like to keep delaying approval with the hope of killing the Plan. That is why the next 3 meetings are so important for us to be heard.

Here’s the schedule:

Legislative Review Committee
Thursday (TOMORROW), March 1, 2012, 9:00 a.m.*
City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor of City Building
*Not 1:30 p.m.

Public Service Board
Monday, March 5, 2012, 5:00 p.m.
1154 Hawkins Blvd.
More on this by Friday!

City Council
Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
City Council Chambers,2nd Floor of City Building

Economic Advantages of New Urbanism

The guiding strategy behind Plan El Paso is New Urbanism. This planning approach is also called Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) for good reason. Some of us remember or have seen and admired in older neighborhoods the homes with porches that face the street and are invitations for sociality and neighborliness. Sidewalks and trees line the streets. Shops, offices, schools and churches are nearby. The streets are connected and do not end in tragic cul-de-sacs that take a motorist forever to find connection to a major thoroughfare. New Urbanism uses designs that ease transportation, encourage walking and biking, give infill and not sprawl priority, value open spaces and parks. By the way, parks are not separated from homes by walls that fence in backyards. New Urbanism, and thus Plan El Paso (the City's Comprehensive Plan Re-Write), means lower transportation costs, placemaking, walkability - i.e., community.  But are there economic advantages?  Is there some gain that financial risk takers (developers) can achieve? Studies show that there are.


For a quick overview take a look at a simple slide show put together by Jason King of Dover Kohl, the consulting firm facilitating El Pasoans re-write of their City's Comprehensive Plan. It's called "Good Planning Is Good Business":

Good Planning is Good Business

Also take a few minutes to read "Dynamics of Master-Planned Communities by Laurie Volkand Todd Zimmerman which is found in the Appendix of Volume 2 of Plan El Paso on page C-2. I embed it here for your convenience:


Portion DRAFT ELP C Econ Dev Reports 010512

Development advantages include lower land cost per unit, lower infrastructure cost per unit, lower first-phase infrastructure cost, and greater development flexibility. Developers can expect unit price premiums and increased sales paces. Keep in mind that a well-designed environment enhances the value of property and buyers select neighborhood first and home second.


An EPA study, "The Transportation and Environmental Impacts of Infill versus Greenfield Development" [Greenfield = Suburban Edge/Sprawl] shows the advantages for infill development which include shorter vehicle trips, lower infrastructure and household travel costs, less pollution and greater access to amenities.


The closer you live to work, the more money you save on commuting. The more money that you save on commuting, the more you can pay on mortgage or rent, a benefit to builders,sellers and landlords.


Try a simple tool. Go to Abogo. Type in an address from a neighborhood that can be considered infill - Sunset Heights for example. Type in another address for a home on the edge of sprawl. Make the comparison.


Finally, take time to read "Sustainable Development: Prosperity without Growth" by Michael Kinsley and published in 1992 by the Rocky Mountain Institute. Kinsley's summary: ". . . while growth is often perceived as the only path to economic viability, the good news for both declining and growing communities is that there is an alternative. Prosperity does not require growth; it requires development that is sustainable." 


Plan El Paso, the City's Comprehensive Plan Re-Write, should be adopted and with very few changes - fewer than those proposed in a Memorandum.



Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Trust or No Trust

"A lie told often enough becomes truth." This quote has been attributed to several despots so the origin is obscure. The question before El Pasoans is whether the PSB is the trustee of land for the City or merely the manager of such land. Ed Archuleta, the CEO of the El Paso Water Utiliites/Public Service Board has long contended publicly in writing and orally that the PSB is Trustee. But is that true?

The question comes to the forefront again because of a dispute over land at I-10 and Zaragoza that had been designated to be used as a park land and part of Blackie Chesher Park. Item 10D on the February 21st meeting of City Council had to do with bringing the land in question up to code as park land. In the midst of the discussion, Representative Cortney Niland asked the million dollar question and addressed that question to City Attorney, Sylvia Firth - Is the PSB a trustee or a land manager? Sylvia Firth answered, "Managers." Of course, legal will research this and both Representative Niland and Lilly are adamant about getting to the truth.


Here are the facts as I see them: Although the PSB has been called a Board of Trustees, no trust document was ever created when establishing the PSB. Moreover, under Texas State law, the PSB cannot be a trust. Trust law is complicated but it establishes a legal relationship whereby one person or entity (the trustee) holds the legal title to property and another (the beneficiary) has the benefit of the use, enjoyment and income from the property. The beneficiary protects the property in trust from creditors and heirs but gives up decision-making about the property.

DM-444 - Dan Morales 1997

Read the 1997 opinion of Texas Attorney General Dan Morales. Here's a portion of the summary:


"The governing board of a municipal utility system acts as an agent of the municipality that created it . . . A municipal utility system may acquire or hold real property only as an agent of the municipality. Thus, the municipality may use the property or dispose of the property as it wishes. A municipality may not delegate to the governing board of its utility system ultimate control of municipal real property."


Such an agency as described in the opinion is not a trusteeship. Again,"the municipality may use the property or dispose of the property as it wishes." A beneficiary can do no such thing. 


According to the definition of property held in trust, the trustee holds legal title to the property. But DM444 forbids a municipal utility (e.g., the PSB) to hold legal title to property. Thus, it can't be a trustee, no matter if the founding document for the PSB refers to that body as a "Board of Trustees". 


An earlier Attorney General opinion, the Maddox Decision (JM-9971) of 1988 had to do with the sale of PSB managed land to Texas Parks and Wildlife for inclusion in the Franklin Mountains State Park. It was a decision in response to a question by then State Senator Tati Santiesteban whether the City could convey the land to the State for a price under market value. 


JM-997l - Maddox Decision 1988

The ruling was simple: as the property did not generate revenues to pay debt services (money owed to bond holders) and was not useful for water or wastewater functions, El Paso could convey the land for a price (in this case) substantially under market value. The PSB fought this but lost. (Pay attention: Mr. Archuleta always contends that the PSB has already generously given land to the Park when he opposes plans to give up land for the Transmountain Scenic Corridor. In truth, the land to which he refers had to be plied out of the tight-fisted PSB.) But the City had every right to do so not as beneficiary of some trust which has never been created, but as land owner and the PSB as land manager (not trustee) could not prevent it.


Why keep repeating publicly that the PSB is a Trustee? In my opinion, Mr. Archuleta and others are smart enough to know that such a claim cannot hold up in a Court of Law. I believe that the claim is repeated to create the notion that it is true in order to have one's decisions not be questioned by policy makers. Now City Council members are questioning it and they have every right to do so.


Trust or no trust? It would seem there is no trust either as a legal entity or as a description of a relationship with the PSB and the EPWU/PSB CEO. 



Monday, February 27, 2012

Joe Muench Strikes Again

On February 12th, Joe Muench of the El Paso Times wrote another one of his unenlightened editorials: No stopping flattened skunks on Trans Mountain.  He begins by saying: "OK, nobody's for blip-blapping skunks on roadways. But our environmentalists just won't give up on trying to stop the expansion of Trans Mountain Road."  Joe is unhappy with the Sierra Club for suing TxDOT because TxDOT arguably failed to do all the due diligence necessary with its environmental assessment (not to mention their absolute failure to listen to the public before they made their plans).


Don Baumgardt, owner of PiƱata Publishing and creator of GeoBetty.com, wrote to the Times but his letter was truncated. Here is the full edition:

"I just read Redneck Joe Muench’s editorial about the need to bulldoze the mountain on the west side along Transmountain Road.  He said all this progress needs to happen and the “enviros” just need to “accept it”.  I’m reminded about that other old redneck line that has since gone out of favor about just relaxing and enjoying the inevitable.  Not so fast, Big Joe. Maybe eliminating the bottleneck of a two-lane section of highway makes perfect sense.  Bulldozing large swaths of mountain for unneeded gateways and overpasses to nowhere doesn’t.  Joe says, “let’s find something we can all want to save”.  Well Joe, we have.
 The process allowing public input has clearly shown a desire to protect open spaces.  The Sierra Club has stepped up to fight TxDOT, the developers and their mouthpieces.  If TxDOT wants to send the money to some other city that wants it more, let ‘em have it – and Joe, our developers and the sprawl that goes with it."

The point remains that many wanted expansion just not to the extent that TxDOT planned behind closed doors.


Jamie Ackerman and Bill Hoover check out the culverts. 
(Third tunnel not shown.)


Since Joe makes light of flattened animals, it may be worth noting that some are talking about incorporating some kind of animal corridor while creating a safe entrance into the Tom Mays Unit of the State Park. Urban Wildlife Biologist, Lois Balin, first mentioned them in a letter to TxDOT in 2006. One proposal are 3 existing culverts underneath Transmountain just east of the State Park entrance. Ms. Balin has pointed out that they would have to be changed to 10 feet in diameter and that the 8 foot drop on one side would need to be rectified and natural flooring created. (10 feet is necessary because the principal concern are mule deer.) Such a re-do is possible using what is called jack and bore.


What a tunnel re-do might look like.
Click to enlarge image.


The Oregon Department of Transportation invested in wildlife crossings and had this to say:

"US Forest Service and ODFW professionals have helped ODOT design the system, which has been proven to work in as many as 600 other sites across the country according to USFS biologist Sandra Jacobson.  They’ll be planted with deer friendly vegetation, to make them inviting to the migrating animals. With the under-crossings in place, Jacobson says the return on investment will be about 2 – 1…in other words, for every dollar spent on the project, they will save two dollars in damage and medical bills."

That's quite a return on investment. Joe mentioned skunks. He failed to take into account mule deers which are increasingly seen closer to the City because of the lack of water in the mountains now. 


Nobody, Joe, wants to "blip-blap" a skunk. More to the point, nobody wants to die or incur expensive damages to car and person.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Tolbert (Moi) Receives Conservation Award

Scott Cutler presents award to Jim Tolbert. Click image to enlarge.


At a dinner last Saturday (February 18, 2012), the El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society awarded me its Conservation Award. The citation on it read:
"Be it known that Jim Tolbert has richly earned this certificate of conservation achievement in recognition of his tireless, dedicated work to foster greater public awareness and appreciation of the Paso del Norte environment; to promote enlightened public policy with regard to conserving of our region's natural resources; and to secure lasting protection for lands of high ecological, recreational and scenic value."
Past recipients have included Judy Ackerman, Charlie Wakeem, Richard Teschner, John Sproul, Lois Balin, Maria Trunk, Chuck Kooshian, Wynn Anderson, Phil Goodell, Peter Best and Helen Bigelow.


Jim Tolbert and Hiking Legend, Dave Webster, share some laughs before dinner.


Thursday, February 23, 2012

City Planning Commission Approves Plan El Paso

The CPC with just a bit of editing approved the Comprehensive Plan Re-Write this afternoon by a unanimous vote. Chairman Larry Nance guided the process which included an inspirational message from City Planner, Carlos Gallinar, and a presentation by Victor Dover and Jason King of Dover Kohl, public comment from the conservation community, Chamber of Commerce persons and EPWU staff as well as a lengthy and active discussion by Commissioners.


Although the CPC's approval was a major step toward final City Council approval set for March 6, there is still over a week to go with Council's Legislative Review Committee meeting next. Here is the schedule of upcoming critical meetings:



Legislative Review Committee
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

Public Service Board (PSB)
Monday, March 5, 2012, 5:00 p.m. 1154 Hawkins Blvd. (Map)
Not only will they discuss the Comprehensive Plan Re-write (Plan El Paso) but the NW Master Plan/Scenic Corridor issue.

City Council
Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 a.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

CPC Meets Tomorrow at 1:30 City Hall 2nd Floor


It's hard to get people to a daytime meeting since so many people have to be at work.  I'm hoping a few folks can show up at tomorrow's CPC and/or the other meetings coming up. Here's what I sent out to a large group in the conservation community just now:

Most of you probably read my e-letter yesterday. I’m just reminding those of you who are top leaders to try to attend tomorrow’s CPC meeting and other upcoming meetings regarding the City’s Re-Write of the Comprehensive Plan: Plan El Paso. It is crucial that the CPC, City Council and Public Service Board see us as well as receive our messages and hear some speak. Be clear: we are talking about Plan El Paso, the new Comprehensive Plan for El Paso and not at this juncture about the NW Master Plan and the Scenic Corridor. Below are some points that you may want to make. If you cannot make the CPC meeting, you can email your thoughts to acostamd@elpasotexas.gov.  Please copy or send another email to Carlos Gallinar, Comprehensive Plan Manager .
 Again here is the schedule of upcoming meetings:
 City Plan CommissionThursday, February 23, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall Legislative Review CommitteeThursday, March 1, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall Public Service Board (PSB)Monday, March 5, 2012, 5:00 p.m. 1154 Hawkins Blvd. (Map)Not only will they discuss the Comprehensive Plan Re-write (Plan El Paso) but the NW Master Plan/Scenic Corridor issue. City CouncilTuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 a.m., 2nd Floor City Hall It is critical that as many of us who care about key environmental, conservation and sustainability issues make these meetings. It has been emphasized to me that turn out is the key. Bodies if not voices are very, very important.   Here are some points if you speak or email:  Rather than a focus on the negative and outdated ideas of a very few, let’s stress the positive.  Plan El Paso encourages infill over sprawl. It encourages preserving our green and natural open spaces. It proposes neighborhoods where you are near to parks and shops and work and where you are connected to your neighbors – where you have community. It “incentivizes development projects of exemplary location and design throughout the City.” It calls for revitalizing downtown. It calls for us to be the most sustainable, walkable, livable and least automobile-dependent City in the Southwest. And, it  sets a goal for us to “provide community services and facilities that meet the physical, educational, and recreational needs of all segments of the City’s community.” Imagine connected, affordable, quality neighborhoods for El Paso. Plan El Paso plans for prosperity, the preservation and usefulness of our historic areas, sets a goal to improve our overall health and quality of life, seeks to protect our environment and the plants and animals of our region all the while building a prosperous, International City.
 I hope that I see you tomorrow and/or at one of the other upcoming meetings. Let’s try to sit together so they see us as a group. Thanks. Jim H. TolbertPublisher, El Paso Naturallywww.elpasonaturally.blogspot.comEasy to subscribe to the elpasonaturally e-letter.
Just email and say “Subscribe elpasonaturally”

Mark Calendars Now for 2012 Poppy Fest

Click image to enlarge.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Plan El Paso Needs You: Be Seen; Be Heard


Currently the proposed Plan El Paso, the City’s Comprehensive Plan re-write, is making its way through the final adoption stages. Yet passage is not certain nor is it certain that a few won’t succeed in making the Plan impotent or weaker than it should be. That is why it is so important for us to educate ourselves about the Plan and, as we are able and available, to make the following meetings:

Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee
Monday, February 20, 2012, 10 a.m. to Noon, 10th Floor City Hall

City Plan Commission
Thursday, February 23, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

Legislative Review Committee
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

Public Service Board (PSB)
Monday, March 5, 2012, 5:00 p.m. 1154 Hawkins Blvd. (Map)
Not only will they discuss the Comprehensive Plan Re-write (Plan El Paso) but the NW Master Plan/Scenic Corridor issue.

City Council
Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 a.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

It is critical that as many of us who care about key environmental, conservation and sustainability issues make these meetings. Turn out is the key. If you cannot attend, please email your comments to Carlos Gallinar, Comprehensive Plan Manager .

Read today’s elpasonaturally post about the number of vacant buildings in El Paso and the loss of population from the Central Core of the City.  That is why it is a source of jubilation and relief when we see that the overall goal of land use patterns in the Comprehensive Plan Re-write, Plan El Paso, encourages "infill development within the existing City over peripheral expansion to conserve environmental resources, spur economic investment, repair social fabric, reduce the cost of providing infrastructure and services, and reclaim abandoned areas."

There are a few, but powerful, adversaries to the Plan from the development industry. Likewise, many suggestions by EPWU staff would weaken the overall Plan while some of their other suggestions seem to bolster it. The Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee met yesterday and reviewed a number of suggested changes. Efforts are still being made by some to water down the Plan. Once again, it is so important that the CPC and your elected representatives at the Legislative Review Committee (March 1) and City Council (March 6) and members of the PSB, see as many of you as possible.

Who are you? You are probably one of the 4,000 people who visited with Dover Kohl and City Staff members over a period of two years in 100 meetings and 20 hands on  sessions. You speak with your neighbors and email your friends. The 1925 City Plan was written basically by one person – George Kessler, a leading figure in American urban planning. However, along with Dover Kohl and City Staff, the authors of Plan El Paso are YOU. Portions of this Plan have already received recognition form the National Resource Defense Council and the EPA. (Search the NRDC site for “Plan El Paso” – good stuff there to surf and read and watch.) Plan El Paso is a repository of practical, achievable yet a very grand vision for the future of our City.

Here’s what I suggest. It’s easy to hammer away at the adversaries for having a narrow vision driven by profit margins. Just remember, “they” aren’t that many people. Also keep in mind  that the development industry has some good ideas when it comes to getting park credits (which they don’t get from the Parks and Recreation Director now) for preserving our hillsides and arroyos. We should work with them here. 

Rather than a focus on the negative and outdated ideas of a very few, let’s stress the positive.  Show up and/or email and keep your comments positive: the Plan encourages infill over sprawl. It encourages preserving our green and natural open spaces. It proposes neighborhoods where you are near to parks and shops and work and where you are connected to your neighbors – where you have community. It “incentivizes development projects of exemplary location and design throughout the City.” It calls for revitalizing downtown. It calls for us to be the most sustainable, walkable, livable and least automobile-dependent City in the Southwest. And, it  sets a goal for us to “provide community services and facilities that meet the physical, educational, and recreational needs of all segments of the City’s community.” Imagine connected, affordable, quality neighborhoods for El Paso. Plan El Paso plans for prosperity, the preservation and usefulness of our historic areas, sets a goal to improve our overall health and quality of life, seeks to protect our environment and the plants and animals of our region all the while building a prosperous, International City.

It is easy to think in narrow terms of profit margins and personal gain and to see everything around us as a commodity. On the other hand, it is far more enriching to see not commodities but relationships: relationships with each other, relationships in community, relationships with all other people around the nation and the world. Relationships with the land, with our mountains and our desert, with the animals and plants and their habitats. Relationships. Really this is what living is all about. People not bottom lines. Instead of the world seen as a commodity, the world seen for what it is: a beautiful commonwealth of all life.

Building Vacancies Call for Infill Development NOT Sprawl

Here are a couple of astonishing facts about empty buildings in El Paso:


Information gleaned from utility records provide a rough estimate of the number of vacant buildings in El Paso. The most recent research was done in 2009. Approximately 5,500 buildings were vacant, 1,800 of those were commercial.


There is no reason to think that the trend has been reversed. Take a look at two maps of the central core. (Click to enlarge images.)




The first map is a comparison of population in 1990 and 2000 in the Central Core of El Paso. The second is comparison between 2000 and 2010 for the same area. So, between 1990 and 2000 there was a population loss of 11,876. Between 2000 and 2010 there was a loss of 8,144 persons. Astonishingly we are losing about 1,000 people per year out of the city core, leaving houses and apartments vacant in the process.


So, it is a source of jubilation and relief when we see that the overall goal of land use patterns in the Comprehensive Plan Re-write, Plan El Paso, encourages "infill development within the existing City over peripheral expansion to conserve environmental resources, spur economic investment, repair social fabric, reduce the cost of providing infrastructure and services, and reclaim abandoned areas."


The new Plan is also encouraging in that it lays out how to develop for future population needs without having to build in "green" areas: remote, natural, agricultural lands.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Emergency Message from Charlie Wakeem

Charlie Wakeem, the Chairman of the Open Space Board and a man who has served on many boards and committees of the City and who is on top of land, conservation and development issues, sent this urgent message late last night:

Friends, I've been reading the changes to the Comprehensive Plan, being on the committee.  They are absolutely egregious.  The powers that be, whoever they are, have watered down the Plan so much that it's almost sinful.  The further I read it, the madder I get.  Please, please please try to show up at the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. on the 10th floor of city hall and all of the other Public Meetings.  The pdf document containing the changes is attached.  Spread the word and forward the document. [Click second link below to see the forwarded document.] Charlie
To see the Comprehensive Plan document, go here. To see the egregious amendments, go here.


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Clarifying Three Major Issues


There are several items on the table now and it can get confusing. Keep these three things separate: Plan El Paso Comprehensive Plan (the City’s Comprehensive Plan re-write), Transmountain Road (Scenic Corridor) and Northwest Master Plan (sometimes referred to as the Westside Plan), and the TxDOT Transmountain West Project and the Sierra Club Lawsuit.

First, the most pressing item on the table now in terms of time is the Plan El Paso Comprehensive Plan. You can review Volumes One and Two of the Draft document online at Plan El Paso. Read the letter from the City’s Planning and Economic Development team. It  points out the level of participation and the time spent in concert with Dover Kohl & Partners developing this very forward thinking plan:

“Over the last 18 months, the City of El Paso has been engaged in one of the most exciting and publicized planning processes in over a generation–Plan El Paso, a rewrite of the City’s Comprehensive Plan.  During this time, the City partnered with Dover Kohl & Partners, one of the country’s top planning firms (www.doverkohl.com).  We met with over a thousand residents and many of you were active in giving us recommendations, drawing ideas, and expressing your hopes for a more prosperous, sustainable, and vibrant El Paso.  Nearly 20 separate community-wide meetings took place in all parts of the City.  We met with seniors, families, young professionals, developers, college students, military personnel, realtors, homeowners, and even held several “hands-on” design sessions with elementary age children.  We had over one-hundred face-to-face meetings with stakeholders and neighborhood associations, and formulated an advisory committee comprised of your friends, neighbors, and colleagues  to provide guidance.”

Know that there are some powerful El Pasoans who would like to jettison or water down the plan that all of us together helped to write. There have already been some delays in the schedule to approve the plan but it looks as if all is moving forward now.  Several meetings are coming up that will lead to a final approval of Plan El Paso. But approval is not a sure thing. Please mark your calendars for the following meetings and attend as much as you can. I will alert you prior to each meeting.

Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee
Monday, February 20, 2012, 10 a.m. to Noon, 10th Floor City Hall

City Plan Commission
Thursday, February 23, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

Legislative Review Committee
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

City Council
Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 a.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

The Plan El Paso Comprehensive Plan Rewrite is steeped in the values of smart growth, walkable and sustainable communities and placemaking – making livable neighborhoods, communities and cities. We all know the existential angst we all experience: alienation from each other and our natural world, vast separations of our homes from where we work and where we shop, expansive streets and highways that are congested, our finances drained as a result of driving these distances to work and shop, our air polluted by long waits bumper to bumper, red light to red light, and our canopy of native trees and shrubs is quickly disappearing. The current designs of our communities have drained our wallets, robbed us of joy, shut us off from each other, and plagued us with a plethora of maladies – obesity, diabetes and heart disease being the leaders.

Our communities can be designed better so that we are closer to where we shop, more apt to interact with our neighbors, able to walk or drive easily, connected with our natural open spaces, and have a sense of place.

Do some homework. Read Plan El Paso. Check out the smart growth FAQs.  Read more about placemaking from Project for Public Spaces.  Google smart growth economic advantages and surf and read.

Send your comments to Carlos Gallinar, Comprehensive Plan Manager  and go to one or some or all of the meetings above and let them know that you want Plan El Paso.

One more meeting is critical. The PSB is apparently having a special meeting on March 5 at 5 or 5:30 on the 4th floor of their building at 1154 Hawkins Blvd. (Map) Mark your calendars now because you won’t find this meeting published on their web site until the last possible moment for you to know. They will discuss the Comprehensive Plan and the NW Master Plan. They really need to hear from their public. (Weren’t we talking about firing our trustee?)

This brings us to the next issue: the Transmountain Road (Scenic Corridor) and Northwest Master Plan. My understanding is that dates for discussing this item are under discussion by the City and the PSB currently. I don’t know the next step  but I do know that the charrette work in progress presentation is now available online. An elpasonaturally post reported that the no-build option was the unanimous favorite of participants at the charrette. Still, when further meetings are set, plan to go – that’s when the bigwigs, backroom movers and shakers attend. These are the meetings that count just as the meetings listed above are the ones that count.

Some of the confusion between the Comprehensive Plan and the Northwest/Westside/Scenic Corridor plan stems from the fact that Dover Kohl has been the consultant in each. Information about the NW Plan are at Plan El Paso also.

The impetus for re-doing the Northwest Master Plan was the success of a petition guide asking that land in the Scenic Corridor be preserved and no major roads built through that land. I can tell you that all petitioners are adamant that the land be preserved and arroyos and habitats be preserved from the devastation of bulldozing and asphalting to make more of those wide and congested roads. The petition is still quite alive if preservation isn’t guaranteed. Simply put, the City Charter allows for petitioners to seek a referendum on a ballot should City Council fail to pass the ordinance prescribed by the first petition or pass an ordinance different from the first one. There is no deadline to start a second petition. At this time, both the City and petitioners have agreed to the process now facilitated by Dover Kohl. Nevertheless, a decision must be reached by the City and the PSB. If no preservation, if destruction of natural habitat and animal corridors, then expect round two of the petition to begin. All hope for agreement on the preservation of the Scenic Corridor which can come as part of a new plan developed with the help of Dover Kohl.

Thirdly, there is the TxDOT Transmountain West Project and the Sierra Club Lawsuit.  Expansion of Transmountain Road on the west side has always had some strong proponents even among those who want to preserve natural open space around it. The trouble comes from the fact that the project grew from a simple $15 million improvement to an $85 million super-freeway with an extra unneeded overpass (Plexxar) and without any practical animal corridor and any safe provision for entry and exit to the State Park. (Safe entry into the Park is yet another permutation of this issue which we will discuss later.) The El Paso Times already reported that “TxDOT officials worked closely with developers as they planned a strip of big-box stores on Trans Mountain near I-10. And when public meetings were held in February [2011], ‘plans for Transmountain had long been completed,’ according to an email Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton sent to a City Council member.” Who cares what you want.

If you want to contribute to the Sierra Club’s lawsuit, then make your check payable to “El Paso Regional Sierra Club Group” with a memo that reads “Franklin Mountain Legal Defense Fund”. Mail your check to the El Paso Regional Sierra Club Group, P.O. Box 9191, El Paso, TX 79995.

Finally, I’ve published before the benefits of trees in the urban setting. Unfortunately, U.S. Cities are losing 4 million trees each year. I’ve sat in enough City Council and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meetings now to know that the leadership of El Paso is much more concerned about the image of being a Tree City USA than actually valuing trees – native trees. It’s just window dressing. A ribbon to hang on a wall and not the substance of a soul.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Folk Medicine Exhibit Opens at Museum of History

Here's something that really touches on one of the themes of sustainability:


Healing Hands, Yolanda Leyva

The El Paso Museum of History presents
Healing Hands& Healing Ways: Traditional Medicine in the Borderlands

The El Paso Museum of History in conjunction  with the University of Texas at El Paso and Museo Urbano present Healing Hands & Healing Ways: Traditional Medicine in the Borderlands, opening Thursday, February 9, 2012. The exhibit, guest curated by Dr. Yolanda Chavez Leyva, is a window into the diversity of healing ways that make up Mexican traditional medicine, historically and today. It is also a testament to the survival of medicinal traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation over millennia.

Healing Hands & Healing Ways is an invitation to experience this healing history and to reconnect with our hearts, our histories, and ourselves.  The exhibit will be open to the public February 10- June 30, 2012.

For more information contact Barbara Angus at 915.351.3588, angusbx@elpasotexas.gov or Yolanda Leyva at 915.747.5508, yleyva@utep.edu.


Monday, February 6, 2012

Sierra Club Files Lawsuit to Halt Transmountain West Construction


The Sierra Club has filed a suit today against the Federal Highway Administration and TxDOT over the Transmountain project that will widen that road from just east of the State Park entrance all the way to Interstate 10. The suit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Austin Division.

The suit asks the court to find that the environmental assessment done by TxDOT was arbitrary and not done in accordance with the law. If the Court so finds, then Sierra Club is asking that the project be halted.  Sierra Club says that a full environmental impact statement must be prepared before any construction starts. Such an impact study and statement can take over a year to complete.  Sierra argues that the project as now defined will have a very negative impact on people and the environment.

The El Paso Times reported just last week that “Sundt Construction of Tucson has been selected by the Texas Department of Transportation to build the $61 million Loop 375 Trans Mountain West project on the West Side . . . “ The Times further reported that Sundt plans to break ground this month.

By the way, weren’t we told by City leaders that $85 million not $61 million was the cost of the project? These same leaders were so afraid of losing so much money for El Paso – or Tucson – or wherever. Still $61 million far exceeds the initial solution for the project - $15 million.

Know that this project is no mere widening of the road. It will create a 4 lane “freeway” from the State Park to I-10 with four additional frontage road lanes – two north and two south of this asphalt beast.

An earlier story by Chris Roberts published in the El Paso Times and still available online documents how decisions about the TxDOT project were made behind closed doors and prior to any public meetings. [Actually, Roberts’ key story was called “Bypassed” and chronicled how developers and TxDOT corresponded on design of the Transmountain Road project. That story is only available now through an online subscription process.] Roberts wrote:

“Emails obtained by the El Paso Times under a Texas Open Records Act request indicated that TxDOT officials worked closely with developers as they planned a strip of big-box stores on Trans Mountain near I-10. And when public meetings were held in February, ‘plans for Transmountain had long been completed,’ according to an email Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton sent to a City Council member.”

The mere fact that the public was cut out of the process and that public hearings were mere window dressing, gives added fuel to the support of the Sierra lawsuit.

Lawsuits cost money and this one needs your support. A Legal Defense Fund has been set-up to support the lawsuit. If you wish to contribute, make your check payable to “El Paso Regional Sierra Club Group” with a memo that reads “Franklin Mountain Legal Defense Fund”. Mail your check to the El Paso Regional Sierra Club Group, P.O. Box 9191, El Paso, TX 79995.

Other subjects . . . 

Switching subjects and please take note: I got my dates wrong for the public City hearings regarding  action on the City’s Comprehensive Plan Re-Write (Plan El Paso). It is important that the public attend and voice their support for a Plan that was written after more than 2500 people participated in 100 meetings and 20 hands-on-sessions. Plan El Paso has been discussed by numerous groups, stakeholders and the press. Efforts to sink the plan by delaying its passage are underway. I published the corrected dates at elpasonaturally and here they are again (correctly):

Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee
Monday, February 20, 2012, 10 a.m. to Noon, 10th Floor City Hall

City Plan Commission
Thursday, February 23, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

Legislative Review Committee
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

City Council
Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 a.m., 2nd Floor City Hall

Please get these dates on your calendar. I will be discussing the Comprehensive Plan Re-Write and publicizing these critical meetings more and more.

As I keep saying, El Paso needs a Green Chamber of Commerce as they have in New Mexico cities. Also, I’ve noticed that Everyday Health recently linked to an article about the new hairstyles that are simple and don’t require blow dryers: Celeb-Inspired Summer Hair. I mention this only because one of the key players (if not the key player) in efforts to water down the new City Landscape Ordinance and now to scuttle the Comprehensive Plan re-write is none other than River Oaks Properties. River Oaks is owned by Helen of Troy founder and CEO, Gerald “Jerry” Rubin.  Of course you know that Helen of Troy makes and markets “personal care electrical products”.  Perhaps not purchasing electrical hair care appliances or even using them makes sense not just for the sake of the planet but for  the sake of El Paso, Texas.

Finally, The 14-week annual training program to become a Texas Master Naturalist begins in just two weeks: February 22, 2012. Persons interested will be trained by experts in urban ecology, geology, botany, mammology, invertebrate biology, ornithology, archaeology, soils, climate and more. Classes are held on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. at the El Paso Garden Center, 3105 Grant Avenue. (Map)   There are also several Saturday morning field trips.  Time is short but applications are still being taken.  To apply for this year’s class you can call the AgriLife Extension office at 915-851-2515 or apply online: http://txmn.org/apply/.  You can also email Matthew Santillan for more information. The cost of the program is $125 to cover books and publications.   The complete press release is available at elpasonaturally.

Apply Today for Master Naturalist Training


TIME GROWS SHORT TO APPLY FOR 2012 TEXAS MASTER NATURALISTS TRAINING

EL PASO, TEXAS, February 6, 2012 – The 14-week annual training program to become a Texas Master Naturalist begins February 22, 2012. Persons interested will be trained by experts in urban ecology, geology, botany, mammology, invertebrate biology, ornithology, archaeology, soils, climate and more. Classes are held on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. at the El Paso Garden Center, 3105 Grant Avenue. (Map)   There are also several Saturday morning field trips.

Time is short but applications are still being taken.  To apply for this year’s class you can call the AgriLife Extension office at 915-851-2515 or apply online: http://txmn.org/apply/.  The cost of the program is $125 to cover books and publications.  

The Trans-Pecos Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists is dedicated to protecting and preserving what makes West Texas so special – our mountains and desert and the abundant animal and plant life.

The Texas program of Master Naturalists is the highest rated naturalist program in the United States.  It consists entirely of volunteers who help park rangers and other professionals protect and show off our unique part of the world.  Almost everywhere there is a local outdoor event, you will find a Master Naturalist giving interpretive nature talks, leading hikes, clearing the trails or just making sure that the gate is open.

Texas Master Naturalists annually contribute more than 20,000 volunteer hours to the state.  The program is jointly sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. 

Becoming a Naturalist involves participating in the annual training program and then agreeing to commit 40 hours per year doing things that suit one’s skills and passion. 

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Saturday, February 4, 2012

Here's a great video of the natural landscapes and native animal and plant life of West Texas, our front yard:



Wyman Meinzer's West Texas from Wyman Meinzer on Vimeo.