City Purchases Mesa View Estates

From El Paso Development News

This morning City Council voted unanimously to purchase the land from Piedmont Group, LLC known as Mesa View Estates II. Community leader, Ellen Esposito, announced the purchase with this message:

"Today, the City of El Paso City Council approved the purchase of 15.57 acres known as Kern View Estates II, owned by Piedmont Group LLC.  The purchase and preservation of this critical open space resulted from the collaborative efforts of El Paso city staff and Piedmont Group LLC. The support and guidance of Representative Ann Lilly were invaluable. 

"Please extend your thanks to the City Representatives and Mayor Leeser for approving this purchase.  And thank YOU for your interest in protecting  the Franklin Mountains of El Paso."

El Paso Development News did a story about it the other day and has received two negative (and, quite frankly, ignorant) responses from one unidentified person who seems spitefully envious of the people in Kern Place and Mesa Hills. The fact of the matter is that the citizens of El Paso voted to have $5 Million of the Quality of Life Bonds go to open space. Another $5 Million was set aside for parks. They are two different items. The land on the western slope of Crazy Cat provides an access to the State Park other than the Palisades or the North Stanton and Kenyon Joyce trailheads. The development presented both traffic and stormwater challenges. 

Land on the mountain sides should be preserved. QofL open space funds are now about $4.5 Million. Could it be that some of that money can be used to purchase from the Knapp family the mountainside portion of Sierra del Puente?

Will Stack and Pack Development Really Preserve Arroyos?

The image is from El Paso Development News which reports, "The site plan for a new residential development in Northeast El Paso shows streets winding around arroyos and open space. (City of El Paso)

The City Plan Commission (CPC) approved a land study for 175.45 acres above Magnetic and just to the south of Hondo Pass. The planned development is being called Sierra del Puente. This is an area that some on the Open Space Advisory Board had asked on several occasions to be considered for acquisition. 

El Paso Development News has the story.

The land owned by Daniel Knapp and Palo Verde Properties plans to build 319 residential units on 70 acres while preserving 88 acres of arroyos and open space. One land expert commented: "This is a stack and pack in order to squeeze all the units on there – which is what they have to do to get their money out of it.  I sure hope the surrounding neighborhoods object to it.  I hate to see that happen to the mountain."

Maybe but, if they use green infrastructure/low impact development and preserve (not concrete) the arroyos, it may be a worthwhile (albeit expensive) enterprise. I've hiked with Dan Knapp and know that he loves our mountains.

When the CPC reviewed the land study, commissioners asked whether anyone from the public had comments. There were none. One wonders how well the neighborhood was informed about the project.

One also wonders whether years of Charlie Wakeem's mentioning the area at OSAB resulted in any attempts to contact the owners about selling the land. OSAB members often waste their breaths at City Planning.

By the way, El Paso Development News is great. Get on their email list.