Plan El Paso Passes!

Plan El Paso Passes!

That should have been the bold front page headline for the El Paso Times this morning.  Instead we got “60-mph gusts to make driving difficult today”. This time of year that can be the headline for just about any day. The excellent Chris Roberts story, Council Oks plan for Smart Growth got shoved to an awkward place on the first page of Borderland overshadowed by Moody’s plan to take on Margo – an important race but one that will not have the long-term impact on El Paso as the new Comprehensive Plan. On the Times web site, you have to search for the Roberts story.

Okay – elpasonaturally is not written to criticize the journalism of the El Paso Times. It is worth noting that probably the most significant event for decades to come hardly got the attention that it deserved in the local rag.  Plan El Paso was facilitated by one the best (if not the best) City Planning consulting firms in the country (or even world) – Dover Kohl. The Plan was developed collaboratively with thousands of El Pasoans working with Dover Kohl and expert City Planning staff over a period of nearly two years in a 100 meetings and 20 hands-on sessions. The Chamber of Commerce took part as true El Pasoans – team members to the end. And, although the powers to be at EPWU tried to be the devil in the details, they were largely unsuccessful. At the end of the day, and it was a very long day especially for very dedicated members of City Council, the Plan was approved unanimously.

There are plenty of people to thank but let me tell you my heroes in all of this: First and foremost the Dover Kohl people led by Victor Dover, Jason King and Bill Spikowski and a cast of very smart, very creative professionals. I got to see firsthand their agonies, their angst and their getting to what was for El Paso a true Yes-Yes-Yes. Through all of this  I have come to respect, appreciate and admire deeply our City Planning staff especially Matthew McElroy, Carlos Gallinar and Fred Lopez. What an extraordinary talent it is to be able to stick to your principles while managing to bring people with differing views on board. El Paso is in good hands with this team.  Cortney Niland – Goddess! She just wouldn’t let go of her insistence that the final document tell the truth – the PSB is a land manager and not a trustee. Words are important and those words should help the current Council and City Councils of the future make right decisions when it comes to our City land. Niland also rightly insisted that the developing industry be rewarded more with park credits when they help to preserve hillsides and arroyos.  My heroes also include Rick Bonart and Steve Ortega (and by extension the great Chuck Kooshian) by keeping the Kooshian 2005 Arroyo Inventory in the Plan. Finally, I want to acknowledge Richard Dayoub,  the President and CEO of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce. I know that as a conservationist, environmentalist, “tree hugger”, I don’t always see eye to eye with the development industry of El Paso. But Dayoub saw to it that the Chamber interact in the Plan El Paso process as a team player. His words at the end of the day yesterday were very fair. The Chamber reserves the right in the future to disagree with some of the planning. He explained the toughest thing for the business community: much of the pace of the progress being made today by City Planners is hard for many businesses to follow. Like any good business person, Dayoub wants to see how changes help not hinder the bottom line. That’s fair and, if Plan El Paso is to be a living document for decades, there must be efforts to learn more and more about the advantages of Smart Growth and how to make that work for all El Pasoans. The conversation and collaboration should continue.

Of course there is a much longer list of people to thank including Larry Nance and all of the people on CPC and CPAC, Charlie Wakeem, Chairman of OSAB, City Council members (particularly Ann Lilly who personally participated in the sessions and my Representative Susie Byrd), Joyce Wilson and many more. Plan El Paso Passes! We El Pasoans should really be proud of ourselves.

Unfortunately, let’s move to the not so good news starring our old friends at EPWU/PSB and, in doing so, transition to the NW Master Plan and Scenic Transmountain Corridor.  At its special meeting this past Monday night, the PSB voted to recommend only one scenario to City Council – the one in which building takes place on both sides of Transmountain. (I’ll get into the details of this more in the next e-letter.) More egregiously, Ed Archuleta via Risher Gilbert and Pat Adauto is crafting a different “conservation strategy” than the tried and true Conservation Easement. They are calling their yet to be unveiled product a “Restrictive Conservation Covenant”.  Seemingly by announcing this “product” on Monday along with their attempts to set their own definitions for arroyos and their own rules for land management was a very clever attempt to torpedo Plan El Paso’s effectiveness when it comes to EPWU control and any real permanent preservation of natural open space in the Scenic Corridor. Archuleta insisted that arroyos will have to be hybridized and concreted and Gilbert acknowledged that their “Restrictive Conservation Covenant” will allow for “changes” on the land. She used horse riding and horse manure as examples although she should have been forthright enough to say that they are really talking culverts and pipes and tanks. (By the way, necessary utility infrastructure in land preserved by a Conservation Easement can be allowed. It is plain that where Risher Gilbert and Ed Archuleta are going is the arbitrary re-taking of land from its natural state over a period of time.  Witness Blackie Chesher Park – another matter to be given its own attention soon.)

Control has always seemingly been the raison d’être for Archuleta’s policies. Now his style of leadership is being seen increasingly as arbitrary and unreasonable by a growing number of people.

Sadly, PSB member, Richard Schoephoerster, revealed an attitude that is too clearly a part of the fabric of a Board with no accountability to the people of El Paso. When discussing the Scenarios presented by Dover Kohl for development (or no development) in NW El Paso, Schoephoerster, the Dean of Engineering at UTEP, stated that those who participated in the charrette had a conflict of interest. What was the conflict of interest? They happen to have been people who care about our environment. In other words, those with whom Mr. Schoephoerster disagrees have a conflict of interest and, therefore, have opinions and interests that should not be entertained when it comes to setting public policy. (If conflict of interest really concerns Schoephoerster, then he should look no farther than fellow board member, Maria Teran, whose business with the EPWU was a huge ethical lapse.)  Remember that it was Schoephoerster who pronounced the Johnson Basin to be natural open space. (See the video with Schoephoerster.) What several people are beginning to ask is whether the Dean of UTEP’s College of Engineering is a bad representative for UTEP as a member of the PSB. Does UTEP’s culture value those who discount the opinions of others in a free debate? Is it good to have the one who is head of engineering be so unconcerned about the facts and details of a piece of land in question and so quickly accede to the claim of another? Attention to facts and details must be critical to an engineer and future engineers must have this trait above all others.

So we head next to the hearings about the NW Master Plan and the Scenic Transmountain Corridor – issues there because of a successful petition. Just to be very clear – no permanent preservation of the land – no deal. Petitioners will begin to get enough signatures to put the matter to El Pasoans whose votes, if not opinions, PSB members cannot discount as a conflict of interest.

Action Nears on Plan El Paso; Preservation of Scenic Corridor Next

We are down to two meetings about Plan El Paso, the City’s Comprehensive Plan Re-Write:

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., 2^nd Floor City Hall

Some final tweaking is going on but it looks like final passage by the City Council is better than just a good bet.  Still it is very important that supporters of new urbanism for El Paso attend the PSB meeting this coming Monday and then the City Council meeting on Tuesday morning. It is very important to attend Monday evening’s PSB meeting because they will, along with taking action on the Comprehensive Plan, recommend a course of action for the NW Master Plan and the preservation of the Scenic Transmountain Corridor. (Monday’s PSB Agenda)  More on this in a moment.

Plan El Paso should be adopted because there are clear economic advantages to be had by all El Pasoans including developers.  Additionally, the Plan favors the preservation of natural open spaces and encourages downtown revitalization and infill over sprawl. Simply looking at building vacancies in El Paso makes the argument for infill over sprawl.  There is some question about language added to the document that suggests that the PSB is Trustee rather than just a land manager. The overwhelming evidence suggests that the PSB not only is not a Trust but, under Texas State Law cannot be a trust. Trust or No Trust – that is the question.

City Council will probably take action to adopt Plan El Paso at its meeting on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it is Item #13 on the Agenda so it is hard to predict exactly what time Council will get to it.  Nevertheless, those who favor the new plan should plan to attend if able. Nothing should be taken for granted. If I hear anything new before Tuesday, I will post it at elpasonaturally.

A tentative schedule for taking action on the NW Master Plan and the Scenic Transmountain Corridor is now available. Mark your calendars. That schedule includes Monday’s special PSB meeting – a critical/must attend meeting beginning at 5 p.m. Elpasonaturally has learned that Mr. Archuleta has been actively opposing preservation and wants to build, build, build on both sides of Transmountain. One can only hope that PSB members will keep just a few things in mind. No-build was clearly the unanimous choice of those who participated in January’s hands-on session led by Dover Kohl. This is no small group. The PSB itself contributed one-half of the cost for Dover Kohl to do an update of the NW Master Plan and to recommend scenarios that include preserving the Scenic Transmountain Corridor. That was a significant but well-made investment. Members of the PSB are bright people. They can see that land sales are a tiny portion of revenue and really have nothing to do with rates. They can also see what the elephant in the room really is: El Paso has more land than water and conserving land along the Scenic Corridor will only tend to increase the value of the lands that they will continue to manage.  The land in question is inexpedient. It is not useful to the functions of the utility namely water and/or waste water. El Pasoans do not gain by further sprawl – in fact, they lose financially because of the ongoing expenses that they will be burdened with: maintenance on infrastructure, essential services such as fire and police, schools and so forth. Adopting a plan that preserves the Scenic Corridor in perpetuity makes good sense.

Bottom line: keep your eye on the ball. As we transition from action on Plan El Paso to action on the NW Master Plan and Scenic Corridor, stay positive and vigilant.

Finally, not really a brag but a word of humble gratitude: I was given the Conservation Award by the Trans-Pecos El Paso Audubon Society. I received that award because I stand on the shoulders of/and cheer lead for giants who tirelessly work for conservation: John Sproul, Charlie Wakeem, Richard Teschner, Judy Ackerman, Phil Goodell, Maria Trunk, Chuck Kooshian, Lois Balin, Helen Bigelow, Peter Best, Wynn Anderson – and others who have received the award.  These are the real heroes and I am so proud that I may call many of them friends.

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.

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., 2^nd 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., 2^nd Floor City Hall

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., 2^nd Floor City Hall Legislative Review CommitteeThursday, March 1, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2^nd 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., 2^nd 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”

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.

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, 10^th Floor City Hall

City Plan Commission

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

Legislative Review Committee

Thursday, March 1, 2012, 1:30 p.m., 2^nd Floor City Hall

City Council

Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 a.m., 2^nd 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 4^th 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.

Comp Plan Action Postponed to February

There has been a sudden development. The CPC will not discuss or take action on Plan El Paso (the City’s Comprehensive Plan Re-Write) at 1:30 p.m. today. Instead that item will be moved to a meeting in February. I will keep you updated.

There is nothing “going on” – just a need to let a few more organizations have time to weigh in on the plan first.

There still will be a Community Presentation of the comp plan re-write tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Foundation Room on the 1^st Floor of the El Paso Community Foundation, 333 North Oregon. (Map)

Get to CPC Meeting Tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m.

Long note but please read. Bottom line: El Paso needs to adopt Plan El Paso, our new Comprehensive Plan.

Please make every effort to attend tomorrow’s (Thursday, January 26^th) meeting of the City Plan Commission at 1:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. (Map and Directions to City Hall) This meeting is far more important, critical and consequential than last night’s hands-on session (although that was very important).  It is imperative that as many of us who can will make this meeting.

I've also learned that the item to take action on the Comprehensive Plan may be moved to the front of the agenda - 1:30 p.m. sharp!

The CPC will take action on the Comprehensive Plan Re-Write (Plan El Paso).  It is CPC and the City Council who make the final decisions about Comprehensive plans . . . not Dover Kohl and not you and me except as we impact our elected Representatives.  All the work that you did at charrettes last year will be worthless if some powerful interests have their way. They hate Smart Growth; they hate walkable communities; they hate open space; they hate the new Landscape Ordinance. They love little or no landscaping. They like big box stores and disconnected neighborhoods and concrete and asphalt.

We have learned that they plan to come out en masse tomorrow to the CPC meeting. They know that they don’t need to “waste their time” engaging in a public process through charrettes. They will focus on the CPC and on Council. You should too. (Did you see any of them actively engaged in last night’s hands-on session for instance? No. They are sharpening their swords for CPC and the City Council and they have done so with the Comprehensive Plan and they will do so later with the Westside Plan.)

The Comprehensive Plan has been vetted for over a year. 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. Nobody can say that we can’t make a decision on it now.

Plan El Paso is comprehensive and addresses a wide range of issues: transportation, livable/walkable communities, health, historic preservation, transportation, downtown development and much more.

Please plan to be at the meeting tomorrow. Let the CPC know that there are numbers for the Plan. You can sign-up to speak on Agenda Item #9 prior to the start of the meeting at 1:30 p.m.

Let me be clear: the meeting tomorrow has to do with the City’s new Comprehensive Plan. It is a separate item from our current work to re-do the Westside Master Plan and preserve the Scenic Transmountain Corridor. However, the Comprehensive Plan has everything to do with the quality of life in El Paso, our economic development and our El Paso’s ability to be competitively tough in the 21st Century.

You can read the complete draft of volume 1 and volume 2 of the Plan El Paso document online. (The Comprehensive Plan Community Presentation is scheduled for Thursday evening at the El Paso Community Foundation at 333 N. Oregon in the Foundation Room on the 1st Floor. (Map)  This is another very important meeting to make if you can.

Time is very short. We need a big turnout.  Tell your friends, neighbors, neighborhood associations, organizations and everyone you know who has worked to make Plan El Paso a dream come true.