Council approves largest open space land acquisition in City’s history

City Council Tuesday voted to spend $3.5 million to acquire 366 acres of open space in Northeast El Paso near Castner Range – the largest open space land acquisition by the City of El Paso.

“Preserving open space at the foothills of our majestic Franklin Mountains is an important investment in our future,” Mayor Dee Margo said in a news release, “It allows our beautiful desert environment to remain in its natural state for scenic and recreational purposes, and helps to balance land preservation and development.”

The City negotiated the $3.5 million purchase of approximately 280 acres and the donation of approximately 72 acres valued at $1.3 million. The remaining approximate 14 acres will be dedicated to the City through a plat, officials said.

Funding for the land acquisition is a combination of monies approved by voters in the 2012 Quality of Life Bond and Public Service Board Dual Purpose Fund. $5,000,000 in funding from the the Quality of Life Bond was dedicated to Open Space.

“Our aggressive pursuit of conservation opportunities is another example of the progress we have made in executing initiatives our voters have said are important to them,” City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said in a news release. “Since the election, we have negotiated the largest open space land acquisition in the City’s history, completed more than 60 bond projects and are getting dozens more projects shovel ready.”

City officials said the effort is part of “El Paso’s strategic goal to nurture and promote a healthy and sustainable community.”

“The open space preservation means exactly that. Thou shall not build on this land. Thou shall not put highways or streets on this land and so open space means in effect the land is preserved,” said Richard Teschner, a UTEP professor working with land conservation groups. “The Franklin Mountains are preserved as indeed they should be. I am in favor of development, but of the appropriate properties, not of our Franklin Mountains.”

“(Council’s vote) culminates more than 15 years of work by open space advocates and city staff, and to finally bringing this to fruition, it helps us meet an obligation that the 2012 quality of life bond put on us, which was to provide open space for the citizens,” said Jose Carlos Villalva, a real estate manager for the City of El Paso.

Villalva told ABC-7 the City’s acquisition will “stop development from creeping up the mountain.”

“The addition of this land is very important for a buffer zone,” said Lois Balin, an urban wildlife biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, “The wildlife are coming down from the mountain, deer are coming, mountain lions, bobcats. This will help reduce wildlife conflicts as well as providing more habitat for them.”