Activists Asking City to Preserve Land Near Franklin Mountains

Local activists have started a petition urging city council to preserve two massive areas east and west of the Franklin Mountains.

The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition wants the city to preserve and not allow development “north of Transmountain Road, east of the EPNG Pipeline Road and south of the New Mexico/El Paso boundary and on the eastern side of the Franklin Mountains that is north of Transmountain, west of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and south of the New Mexico/El Paso boundary.”

Jim Tolbert, one of the petition’s organizers on Thursday said the group has gathered about 1500 signatures, online on change.org and through a hard copy version.

Tolbert said the petitions stems from three concerns: water scarcity, the cost of taxpayers subsidizing development in the outskirts of the City and the risk development could ruin the Franklin’s beauty.

“This is about saving taxpayer money. Every time you have these developments, you end up having new infrastructure to pay for, new schools to pay for. And the scarcity of water. If you have too much development, you’re not going to have enough water and you’re going to have to import too much. And we have to preserve the beauty and the recreational opportunities of the mountains and also to care about the wildlife,” said Tolbert.

Most of the city-owned land in question is managed by the Public Service Board. Christina Montoya, the PSB’s Communications & Marketing Manager said in an email some of the area included in the petition is under a master plan – with parts set for preservation, and others for development.

“El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board (EPWU/PSB) believes preserving open space is important. We recognize that some of the area that is being requested to preserve is not developable and should be preserved as open space. Exactly how much is a continuous discussion with the City of El Paso and the Open Space Advisory Board,” wrote Montoya.

Tolbert said petitioners want to ensure the city doesn’t give in to potential pressure from developers to sell the land. “We want to protect this area from politics.”

Any changes to a masterplan would have to be approved by City Council. Tolbert hopes to get 6000 signatures.