El Paso Water Utilities Concerned Over City’s Growth

In which direction should the Sun City grow? The City of El Paso is busy putting together a plan for the next decade or two of growth.

Those in charge of El Paso’s Water Utility have definite opinions about which way the Sun City should not grow. “We don’t want to continue to sprawl,” said Ed Archuleta, President and CEO of El Paso Water Utilities and the Public Service Board.

Archuleta says it’s time City develop a comprehensive growth plan that doesn’t continue to spread the city to the East. “I think it’s important to look at the water resources as part of a sustainable plan,” he said, pointing out that the water resources to the West and Northeast are our best bets. “There is a point out on the East Side where we are saying through City planning this is probably going to be the limits of the City of El Paso.”

Some, like the El Paso Association of Builders Executive Vice President Ray Adauto, were surprised by Archuleta’s comments. “We hadn’t heard this before,” Adauto said. “Tying this into water is really a new deal. It doesn’t leave for the free market the ability to determine its future and its way of growth. The East Side has been where more affordable land is available. Affordability is a key component of the whole issue.”

City officials say that more than 1,000 people a year move from areas in the Central part of the city to developments on the fringes of El Paso.

“We’ve lost 20,000 people in the traditional city core between 1990 and 2010,” said Mathew McElroy, the City of El Paso’s Planning Director. “The best tax benefit is to focus on your downtown and your traditional city core.”

Archuleta and the PSB agree.

“We want to make sure as they plan smart growth communities, it’s smart water too,” Archuleta said. “Why would you go, just because it’s cheaper and more convenient to some people, to try to build a house or businesses when you have plenty of land on the West side, Upper Valley and Northeast El Paso for a long time.”

Although the PSB does charge developers impact fees, Archuleta said they do not cover the complete cost of additional infrastructure that is needed in new developments.

The PSB is scheduled to discuss which way it thinks the city should grow, or not grow, at a board meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning at its headquarters on Hawkins Boulevard.