Preservationists start petition in effort to save trail in Northwest El Paso

For the past month, preservationists have been taking on the City of El Paso.

It all has to do with the city’s plan to create a tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ) in Northwest El Paso.

The city’s plan could lead to the development of almost 9,000 homes. The TIRZ, known as TIRZ 12, encompasses an area of more than 1,000 acres.

This area includes the Lost Dog Trail.

“I’m a trail runner and for me it’s therapeutic to be out here,” preservationist Zach Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez created a petition on Change.org asking for signatures to save the trail. It has more than 9,000 signatures. Gonzalez said he created it to raise awareness. The Change.org petition itself does not dictate what El Paso City Council discusses.

The City of El Paso has said the trail will be preserved, but altered.

“It will be shifted closer to the Franklin State Park so a little bit further North and East,” said Elizabeth Triggs, with the city’s economic development department. “It will still be there.”

But Gonzalez isn’ the only person who is asking for signatures. Sharon Bonart, the Chair of the Open Space Advisory Committee, is helping organize an initiative petition.

The El Paso City Charter states that if petitioners get enough signatures from registered voters, they can bring up the issue of preserving this land as open space, back to city council.

City council will vote to finalize the financing plan for TIRZ No. 12 on June 26.