OSAB Recommends Plan to Preserve Scenic Corridor

In its latest report on the NW Master Plan and Scenic Transmountain Corridor, Dover Kohl and Partners suggested three scenarios for development. In an earlier draft proposal, a no-build option became a de facto fourth scenario after El Pasoans gave input at a January charrette.  (See the Dover Kohl report embedded on an elpasonaturally post.  The scenarios are shown on pages 24 and 25. A map of the 2005 master plan is on page 5.) OSAB yesterday voted nearly unanimously to recommend to City Council the no-build option; and, of the 3 scenarios suggested by Dover Kohl, to recommend Scenario #2 since OSAB members wanted to respond to Council’s request to find a resolution between the differences of the old 2005 NW Master Plan and the area prescribed for preservation in the successful petition.

A packed crowd attended the OSAB meeting and a number of citizens voiced their desire to keep the land preserved. In my last e-letter, Plan El Paso Passes, I reported that, sadly, Richard Schoephoerster, a member of the PSB and the Dean of Engineering at UTEP, had marginalized the group of citizens who participated at the charrette because they were, in his words, “against construction”. In a post today, I point out that this group is not anti-construction per se, but has, for the past ten years, called for preserving the unique scenic beauty of the Transmountain corridor as it abuts the state park. It is dismaying that someone who sits on a public board should have a dismissive attitude toward those with opposing views. Moreover, I am shocked that a Dean of Engineering should have so little regard for facts and details as he revealed when he declared a dirty vacant lot in the middle of development to be natural open space.  You can watch a video clip of his declaring that those who want to preserve open space in northwest El Paso as a group with a conflict of interest.

To see the great value of natural open space, watch this excellent promotional video for El Paso.

Upon adopting Plan El Paso, kudos for the City began coming in. Do watch ABC-7’s Maria Garcia interview of Representative Steve Ortega. Past Council Representative and candidate for U.S. Congress, Beto O’Rourke, played a large role in bringing smart growth to El Paso. But the real unsung hero is Representative Susie Byrd.  She has been a true visionary on El Paso's City Council on Smart Growth and sustainable development. As the Representative of a great deal of El Paso’s traditional core, she understands the qualities that go into building complete neighborhoods and how suburban sprawl is a poor substitute. She also understands that as a city, the traditional core cannot continue to lose over 1,000 residents per year.  It is this mix of design understanding and the transition facing the core that makes her such a gifted advocate.

Much of the City's progress on building better places can be traced to Byrd’s insistence on better design. She pushed for the adoption of the Smart Code, a new Rapid Transit System, incentives for smart growth, smart code planning for PSB land and land sales, the ITE manual for Walkable Urban Thoroughfares, and a bold new urban comprehensive plan (Plan El Paso) already being called the best smart growth plan in America. The end result will a more sustainable, economically competitive city with a quality of life that rivals any other place in the Southwest.  Thank you, Susie Byrd!

City Council will take up the NW Master Plan and Scenic Corridor on Tuesday (March 20^th). It is Item #10B on the Agenda.

The new Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition newsletter is available online with information about the upcoming Poppy Fest, Party for the Planet at the Zoo, the calendar of events at the Museum of Archaeology and an appeal by the Sierra Club of El Paso as it does legal battle with the behemoth, TxDOT.

Two events this Sunday afternoon:

Awakening the Dreamer, a program about “the acceptability of a sustainable and just world” takes place March 18, from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. at All Saints Catholic Church Parish Hall, 1415 N. Dakota. (Map)  The presenter Kathleen Erickson is a long-term border activist, founder of the Women's Intercultural Center in Anthony. She now works on a national level, but is back on the border this week, leading a delegation of university students. 

Also on Sunday March 18^th, "El Paso's Hueco Tanks" TV documentary premiere and fundraiser begins at 2 p.m. at  the Scottish Rite Theater, 301 W. Missouri. You will tour Hueco Tanks like never before on TV and see El Paso's oldest and  largest art gallery.  A $3 minimum donation at the door will go to Hueco Tanks Legacy Fund,  Scottish Rite Theater, and the El Paso County Historical Society.   Filmed over 8 years, this 52-minute TV documentary is called "El Paso's Hueco Tanks."  This film takes a new approach to the many groups, such as hikers, Native Americans, rock climbers, the picnic and party set, and the State of Texas, who all claim Hueco Tanks as theirs.  A professional artist looks at the 3,000 rock images, and artist Debra Cool-Flowers draws new conclusions that impress Ph.D. anthropologists who welcome her findings.  For more information, call 533-3603. By the way, the documentary is the work of Newman Park Legacy, Jackson Polk. This film will also be shown for free at the Poppy Fest on March 31, 2012 at the Archaeology Museum at 1:15 p.m.

Finally, you may want to consider getting outdoors for some yard work,  gardening or a romp in the park. Getting dirty may be great for your mental health.