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Industrial Complexes in Paradise, Part One |
Bill Hudson | 7/8/10
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“As far as dust, I’ve driven on some of the county roads here. You’ve driven on many more than I have. I bet 90 percent of the roads in this county are gravel. There is dust. If people are that health-affected, they shouldn’t be living in this area, because the gravel roads exist. It’s part of the reality of living in a rural environment.”
With those words, delivered to the Archuleta County commissioners at last Tuesday’s public hearing, Denver attorney Peggy Montaño appeared to be summing up her client’s approach to the problem of “mitigation” — when your client wants to locate an industrial complex in the midst of a quiet, rural residential area.
If you don’t like industrial dust and noise, she seemed to be saying ... well, maybe you should move to the big city.
Montaño’s summary came near the end of two contentious hearings before the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday afternoon, presented before two — count them, two — packed crowds in the Commissioner’s Meeting Room at the County Courthouse in downtown Pagosa Springs. (One crowd had to leave to make room for the second.)
 The first hearing — about a proposal by regional electricity cooperative La Plata Electric Association to build a massive electrical “substation” prominently at the western “gateway” to Pagosa Springs — had packed the room with opponents to this new industrial complex. Almost all of the opponents were wearing Parelli Natural Horsemanship shirts — perhaps due partly to the fact that the proposed substation would be directly across the highway from the entrance to the Parelli Ranch.
After the commissioners finished listening to an extended criticism of the County planning department delivered by Parelli president Mark Weiler — and after a final decision on the proposal was pushed off into the future by the commissioners — the room emptied out, and was then refilled with the proponents and opponents of the proposed Eagle Mountain Gravel Pit, slated for a rather rural location near the Cloman Industrial Park.
But before we get into the meat of these two fascinating hearings, let’s pause and take a look at just how “rural” the Archuleta County “rural environment” really is.
Archuleta County — with its county seat, the Town of Pagosa Springs — is situated at the foot of the Continental Divide. Unlike some other towns in the southwestern corner of Colorado — towns like Durango, Telluride, Creede, Ignacio — community has little in the way of proven mineral resources. And unlike the agriculturally-rich valley to the east — the vast San Luis Valley — Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County don’t offer much promise for growing crops, except perhaps grass and hay.
Our local ski area, Wolf Creek Ski Area, has a reputation as a small, family friendly facility — but it’s located a half hour away, at the top of a pass that closes regularly due to avalanche dangers. Unfortunately, those closures happen whenever there’s a big snow — precisely when Wolf Creek is getting its best powder.
Archuleta County is isolated. It has two two-lane highways leading in and out. It’s an hour from the nearest commercial airport, and four hours from the nearest large metropolitan center: Albuquerque, New Mexico.
We’re looking at a town that really has three major assets — three reasons for existing at all, here in 2010.
One, Pagosa Springs has geothermal mineral springs.
Two, it is surrounded by scenically beautiful, undeveloped open space.
And three, due to its lack of other resources, it has retained a certain “small town charm” — something that is becoming increasingly rare in America.
The geothermal hot springs have been actively developed, especially over the past 20 years, by several downtown companies and by the Town government itself. According to my research over the past several years — and to evidence of declining geothermal water pressure — it appears that the resource may be nearing its maximum capacity.
That leaves us with undeveloped open space and small town charm as our key resources.
Hmmmm. That’s a problem, when you actually consider it. You can’t really develop two resources whose attractive qualities depend upon the lack of development.
It’s a problem. If you develop the open space, and you build out the small town, then you’ve essentially destroyed the two remaining community resources.
This very real paradox was the very one facing the three County commissioners, Clifford Lucero, John Ranson and Bob Moomaw on Tuesday afternoon, as they considered two proposed industrial developments during two lengthy, well-attended hearings.
(The Tuesday meeting had in fact kicked off with a reference to another major development issue — a pending Memorandum Of Understanding currently being hammered out to define the changing relationship between the BoCC and the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District — but I hope to cover that issue in a separate article.)
The first development issue on the BoCC’s plate Tuesday was a vastly expanded electrical substation, proposed to be located across the highway from the Parelli Ranch — about 8 miles west of downtown Pagosa and about 4 miles west of the “uptown” City Market shopping center — Highway 160.
Highway 160 is the only access to Pagosa Springs from the west. The highway makes its way through the somewhat funky rural community of Aspen Springs and then passing through an area of large grass-covered ranches, on its way up a slight hill. The highway takes a wide turn just past the Parelli Ranch entrance, and opens up on sudden expansive views of the San Juan mountain range, towering pine trees in the distance, and nearby meadows lightly dotted with homes. It’s the moment when you are likely to think, “Yes, this is why I live in Pagosa Springs.”
You might not have even noticed the electrical substation that you passed on the left side of the highway. It’s a rather small, industrial setup full of transformers and ceramic insulators.
According to our local electrical cooperative, La Plata Electrical Association, this substation is too small to continue serving Pagosa Springs properly.
According to Parelli president Mark Weiler, the new, proposed substation will be 39 times larger than the one you just passed.
Read Part Two... |
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