Sherry Mowles and Dan Knapp will be the guests on the El Paso History Radio Show with hosts Jackson Polk and Melissa Sargent this Saturday, April 9th beginning at 10:05 AM on KTSM AM 690 and online at KTSMRadio.com. Dan and Sherry are owners of the 600+ acres of land on Mount Franklin known as Sierra del Puerte.
Just this past Tuesday members of Save Our Sierras (SOS) spoke to the El Paso City Council. They are lobbying the City to buy the Knapp property using Quality of Life and stormwater funds and doing some kind of land swap with the City.
The Knapps would prefer not to develop the upper portions of their land. Those parts will be expensive to develop. However, it is either develop or continue to pay taxes. So the Knapp family is seeking a buyer before they have no alternative but to build.
Can the City do it? The better question might be: WILL the City do it?
Open Space Advisory Board members are reportedly working on a resolution to City Council recommending the sale. However, why has the City done nothing so far? Indeed it would seem that there has been every effort made to thwart OSAB's discussions of the land to move to actionable items. Why?
Simple. The City wants the tax money especially after development.
If a buyer is going to be found, it may have to be the State or the State in partnership with the federal government. Afterall, the Knapp land abuts the State Park and it is a favorite area for beginning hikers. A hike through that land is a staple event for the El Paso fall program, Celebration of Our Mountains.
SOS may be barking up the wrong Desert Willow.
Dan and Sherry will also share some great El Paso history stories.
By the way, they will be followed by El Paso author L.C. Hayden who will talk about her novel, Secrets of the Tunnels. Hayden says that there is an extensive network of tunnels underneath downtown El Paso.
Check out the El Paso History Channel this Saturday beginning at 10:05 AM on KTSM 690 AM.
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