Dear HCN,
As one of the designated
bad guys in Greg Hanscom’s reprise of Milagro Beanfield War (HCN,
12/4/00: Road block), I guess I should be thankful that the Valley
Improvement Association came out looking no worse than it did …
and stay quietly holed up in my “airy offices” (in a 30-year-old
converted shopping center). Or, I could climb into my two-tone
Chevy king cab pickup (seven years old, with way more than 100,000
miles and bought used), and go look at the “cookie-cutter” homes
(that have won awards for design and construction). But before I do
any of that, I’ve got to comment on your using a subjective,
minimalist reporting style to oversimplify a big, complicated and
often messy issue.
One of the cluttering details
you ignored is that the Valencia County conceptual land-use plan
discourages further development of valley agricultural land, and
encourages development of more densely populated communities on the
east and west mesas, along with the necessary infrastructure. Our
community is on the east mesa, on what was marginally productive
grazing land. It’s home to more than 7,000 people, close to five
times your estimate of the population of Tome. And, our own water
and sewer company serves it.
Another detail is
the issue of deteriorating water quality. More than two-thirds of
this county’s population lives in unincorporated areas. And there’s
only one unincorporated community with a central water and sewer
system. Ours. We serve 7,000 people, a university branch campus,
five schools and an industrial park with more than 1,000 people
working in it. And more than half the county’s population lives on
individual wells and septic tanks, many in the valley where the
water table is just a few feet below surface.
You
only allude to the fact that our infrastructure is paid for by the
people who own land and live in our community … and you overlook
the partnership our association has crafted with local government.
We’ve deeded over more than 300 acres of land valued at between $2
million and $3 million to the University of New Mexico and the
Belen and Los Lunas School Districts; spent hundreds of thousands
of dollars helping them with access, utilities and amenities; and
established a voluntary impact fee for the school district that
serves the Las Maravillas and Pasitos communities.
We built, and now maintain, more than 60 acres
of parks and open them to the entire county for use. We’ve
collaborated on the construction of roads outside our areas, built
and paved our own streets, helped provide fire and police
protection, and even helped organize and finance an economic
development program that has brought more than 1,000 jobs right
here to Valencia County.
In the past, our
membership of 25,000 property tax-paying families were portrayed as
victims of a land sales scheme. Now, you’re condemning them because
they’ve succeeded in developing the hope of someday using their
property.
All through the ’90s, this county was
ranked among the fastest-growing in New Mexico, which is among the
fastest-growing states in the nation. The growth in our community
probably accounted for only 15 percent of the county’s total
growth. Where was everyone else going? Most went either to other
mesa communities or the valley.
More importantly,
where are people going in the future? I know … I can hear the
mantra, “Infill … infill.” But we don’t have much “in” to fill.
And a lot of what we do have is …
agricultural.
I don’t like some of the changes
I’ve seen in the last 25 years. (Heck, I don’t like some of the
changes I’ve contributed to in the past 25 years.) But if you can’t
stop growth, how do you attack and negate some of its consequent
problems? Do we work on a planned community built on non-productive
land, with amenities and infrastructure in the ground, and build a
record of successful collaboration with local governments? Or, do
we all move to the valley, take up the anti-development banner, and
wait for the consequent water pollution, traffic and smog to cull
out the weak and careless and solve our county overpopulation
problems?
I know what I’m going to do. And from
the thrust of your article, I know you won’t like
it.
Robert J.
Davey
Belen, New
Mexico
The writer is president of the Valley Improvement Association.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline It’s not that simple.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
