Petitioners Want City To Go Forward With Public Meetings On Open Space
If the City Council does not keep its word and begin a public input process on preserving nearly 800 acres of city-owned land next to the proposed Transmountain freeway, organizer Jim Tolbert said petitioners will take the issue to the voters in an election.
Last month, the City Council decided to try to work out a compromise between the petitioners and the Public Service Board, which manages that land for the city and is willing to preserve only about 430 acres. The PSB said it needs to sell a portion of the land for development because money generated from land sales is invested into capital projects, which keep its rates from increasing, PSB officials have said.
The 4,500 petitioners want to protect arroyos, wildlife and the scenic corridor within the nearly 800 acres from development.
In the Sept. 20 City Council meeting, representatives talked about possibly hiring planning company Dover Kohl to start a public input process on what to do with that land. The process would allow all parties involved, including the PSB, petitioners, the Open Space Advisory Board and the public to have a voice in the decision.
The PSB even agreed to split the $200,000 cost with the city.
But when the issue went to council on Tuesday for final approval, only city Rep. Susie Byrd was on board with the idea. City Manager Joyce Wilson seemed a little surprised and advised the rest of City Council to look at last month’s taped meeting so it could remember what it had agreed to do.
“I am just a little bit alarmed that we’re not doing what we said we were going to do that day. We committed the resources, and we committed to this process,” Byrd said. She said the city would have to plan for the land anyway, so the process would just make sure that all parties had a say, instead of planning it later with no public input.
“If we are pretty close to an agreement and we can move forward in an amicable way where both parties are satisfied and do that without spending this money, I just feel like that would be more prudent,” said city Rep. Cortney Niland, who said that she remembered the parties were close to a compromise and had only agreed last month to continue dialogue, not to start a public process and hire Dover Kohl.
The public process would include charrettes, or sessions in which the public is allowed to suggest options for the land. Also, it would require amending the city’s comprehensive plan for Northwest El Paso.
City Council postponed making a final decision until next week.
Jim Tolbert, who spearheaded that 45,000 signature petition to preserve the land, said he’ll be at next week’s City Council meeting. He said he will tell city representatives that if they don’t start the public process — where everyone has a say — they’ll begin another petition to take the issue to the voters.
City Rep. Ann Morgan Lilly, who represents the area, Rep. Steve Ortega and Mayor John Cook were not at Tuesday’s meeting.
