Bill Wallace: Listen closely
Sunday, August 1, 2010
It was a couple summers ago and there I was watching the Fourth of July parade in downtown Steamboat Springs. Apparently, it was an election year, as Doug Monger and his horse came trotting by trying to look electable. At one point, as Doug smiled and waved to the crowd, his horse relieved himself on the street. If only I had known how prophetic that incident would be.
Fast forward to Tuesday. There’s Doug Monger along with the two other Routt County commissioners, waiting for the public comments to stop so they can approve Ed McArthur’s gravel pit to be located in the middle of the South Valley.
He and Nancy Stahoviak are lecturing — at times scolding — the public for having the audacity to think that preserving the valley landscape in a resort-economy town is more important than having a nifty supply of gravel. Doug, expressing his own brand of mystifying logic, is telling the crowd that he can see all kinds of ugly stuff from his place out by the airport. So why are we complaining? Share and share alike, I guess. Diane Mitsch Bush, apparently intimidated by the other two, goes along with the deal.
I don’t know when these guys come up for re-election. However, one thing is certain. Each will be campaigning on how well they’ve served the interests of the citizens of Routt County and preserved the values and the economy of Steamboat Springs. I suggest you listen carefully to what they have to say.
Bill Wallace
Steamboat Springs
Comments
Bill Wallace 2 years, 9 months ago
I appreciate the editorial staff of the Steamboat Pilot and Today for publishing my letter to the editor. Unfortunately, the staff left out the last sentence of my letter: "Oh yeah, and watch out for the horse!"
aichempty 2 years, 9 months ago
An in-law educated me recently regarding the anatomy of jellyfish. It turns out their mouth also serves as their anus.
We now refer to those who follow certain professions as, "jellyfish."
Pass it on.
The rest of your horsie image strikes me to a far greater degree than the depositing of fertilizer on Lincoln Ave. Who cleans it up after the politicians move along? Somebody else. Welcome to America; here's your sign.
John Fielding 2 years, 9 months ago
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I do not understand why having a gravel pit will be so detrimental to the view that it could be considered a significant compromise of the quality of life here. When you look out over the valley, it will occupy a very small percentage of the view, and many will not even regard that as unpleasant, only as another feature of the landscape like the mansions and arenas that are as big as gravel piles.
And then it will all go away, and leave ponds, trees and wildlife habitat where there is mostly just hay fields now.
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Bill Wallace 2 years, 9 months ago
My concern, and that of many others, is that for the next 20+ years Steamboat Springs visitors and residents will have this signature Valley view marred by a fairly substantial industrial operation complete with the sight and noise of diesel powered mining equipment, conveyors and loaders operating at least six days a week. In addition, there will be a stream of dump trucks moving in and out of the site hauling gravel to places yet to be determined.
Also, one cannot assume that this will be the only industrial operation that will be located in the Valley. The approval of this pit starts us down a slippery slope. It sets a precedent, providing a rationale for others to use in making application to the County for who knows what.
Steamboat Springs has a resort town economy. People come here to relax, play, enjoy the scenery, and spend money with the local merchants. If this were Jackson, Wyoming would we want to put a gravel pit in a place that interrupted the view of the Grand Teton's?
Right now we have three Routt County commissioners who treat Steamboat Springs as if it were a spoiled child not wanting to accept its share of the ugliness that accompanies construction. We've told the commissioners countless times, "Don't you get it? Do you understand why people come to Steamboat Springs?” If you start destroying the things that people come here for, they will stop coming.
For the record, we are not against gravel pits per se. Five years ago when Lafarge was trying to locate a gravel pit in the same spot, a group of us organized a meeting with local representatives of Lafarge to identify alternate sites. That effort lasted about three weeks until Lafarge's lawyers told the representatives to stop talking to us.
Tubes 2 years, 9 months ago
Mr Wallace, I have copied and pasted my comment from Justin Hirsh's editorial for your enjoyment. In case you weren't around just a few short years ago or have conveniently forgotten, the below mentioned mines didn't 'destroy' the things people 'come for' and they have not 'stop coming.' Or at least, not as far as I can tell.
"What I find odd about this and the other editorial regarding this matter is that they both make it sound as if a gravel mine in South Routt is something new. Didn't there used to be two gravel mines just across the street from this location that were not only closer to the Yampa River but located even more so in the 'prime scenic corridor' than this one? I don't recall any of the above outlined (rather severe) impacts being the case with either of those two mines. If so, surely we would have learned from that and not ever let it happen again."
Bill Wallace 2 years, 9 months ago
Replying to Tubes... Perhaps it's my environmental engineering background. Perhaps it's because I lived in the Northwest for 13 years. But when I learned back in 2002 that somebody actually wanted to put a gravel pit in that spot my first reaction was, “You've got to be kidding! Nobody in his right mind would allow a gravel pit to be built in that spot. This doesn't even pass the laugh test.”
Yes, I know gravel pits of been there before, but that doesn't make it right or sensible. (See Grand Teton comment above.) Traveling out of town and heading up US 40 towards Rabbit Ears Pass, I've seen many a tourist stop along the way to marvel at the scenery and take a few family photos with the South Valley as a backdrop. It probably won't take an expert photographer to keep the pit out of the field of vision. But what comes next? More pits? Some other industrial facility? Perhaps a shopping center? Where does it stop, or will it stop?
Maybe what we need to do is give each tourist a copy of Photoshop when they check in at their hotel. That way, they can take any picture they want and fix the background later.
Living in Colorado for the last 15 years (and Steamboat Springs for seven) what I've had to learn is that when it comes to land, people here have markedly different values. Here it's, “This is my land! I can do with it what I darn well please and I don't give a hoot about anybody else!” Perhaps it's our close proximity to Houston, Texas, a place where scenic values and zoning seems to have been dirty words.
sledneck 2 years, 9 months ago
Mr Wallace, It is funny how you excuse D M Busch by saying she was apparently "intimidated" by the other two. BULL! I guess she was supposed to be you tree huggers' "ace in the hole". You just can't bear to admit that she sold you out too, can you. Sure the "other two" commissioners are horrible individuals but no matter what Busch does she's your hero.
She could have opposed the pit aggressively and stood with you... she did not. She is a grown-up and acted autonomously. I do not always agree with her but I have found her intelligent, considerate and fair. Condem her as you do the other two or shut up!
If gravel pits could only stop the idiots from comming I would have an application in by weeks end.
Scott Wedel 2 years, 9 months ago
The CC had limited options on this because gravel pits are considered to be an use compatible with preserving rural open space. I think that is an error of categorizing use and impact because a gravel pit has far more of an impact than uses that are not allowed. A couple of acres sheltered by berms used for some commercial purpose would have a harder time being approved than the gravel pit.
John Fielding 2 years, 9 months ago
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I wonder how many people are really very offended by the sight of a gravel pit. When you are driving to Silverthorne do you have to look up toward Ute pass instead of at the operation there to avoid disgust? Would it make you go to Denver via Berthod instead of getting so close to one which is turning a mountain meadow into a lake via a couple of decades of industrialization?
When I view that operation I wish for a local pit so I may never have to truck granite boulders down from there again when there are millions of tons of them on the east side of the Yampa valley and precious few on the west where our pits are.
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