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Show PAGE 10 THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1994 What Does Moab Want? THIS MONTH'S QUESTION: As Moab and Grand County continue to grow, many people wonder what an optimum population for our community should be. What do you think is an optimum population for Moab and what advantages and disadvantages would a community that size create? Larry Fleenor 1 think we're about the right size now. The economy's improving right now. I wouldn't want it to get bigger though it probably will anyway. But I think it's about right the way it is. The disadvantage of a bigger Moab would be the taxes that would follow and the pressure on services...services might not be able to keep up with the growth. I wonder if they are now even." Jennie Patterson 1 believe that before answering that question you need to have a master plan for the entire region. Then the answer to that question becomes apparent in the Niels Adair the conditions would be optimal for 5000 people at the most. This is a desert...there's not that much water. That's what it boils down to. If the town got bigger, we'd have to start looking for more water. Look what's happening to Phoenix, look at Las Vegas. This is a desert; it's not meant to hold that many people. That's what John David Shepard "Over the last decade or so we have created a Transient Room Tax to attract visitors here and now that they are coming, we are failing to provide for these people. I see the BLM and the NPS running people off, saying they can't camp here or there...But the town's going to grow, we are not going to stop the growth of this town just because we think there are enough people here now. As far as the optimal size, it's already surpassed what I would have liked. But the growth of this community is not going to be determined by what I like." "I believe that Wesley Powell said when he came through here more than a hundred years ago on his river expeditions. No one listened to him then, and I hope people would listen to someone like that now." John Fogg "I feel that an optimal population would be about 12,000 people. The advantage of that would be that it would bring in more services to the town and a little more shopping ability with a greater population and perhaps provide more jobs on an annual basis. The disadvantages that would arise is that downtown traffic would be a lot heavier, there would be more problems with parking. I'm sure that every community wants to have growth without the problems associated with growth and we're no different in that regard." master plan." i i Martin Hamaker "I wish I had a copy of this poem that I heard a long time ago in Moab. A man sat down on his front porch and noticed that a new family had moved into the valley. And he said,"Now there are ten families in the valley. One day the valley will be taken up by a dozen cabins or more. Some of my wife's old family stories are about farms in the Moab area. One was in the Tusher area, another over in the Mountain View area. It seems as we've gone on we've taken more of our agricultural land and used it for buildings and parking lots. Moab should be as large as it can m; accommodate." STOP BY AT: Poison Spider Bicycle 497 N. MAIN 259-772- 2 A- canoe company GUIDED TRIPS RENTALS INSTRUCTION TA frsri'-i- 'TU . t- r; , :T.E |