| OCR Text |
Show THE ZEPHYRNOVEMBER 1990 PAGE 24 Kokopelli Theatre: Bulldozing Ahead by Jack Campbell Given the degree of public "concern and uncertainty regarding the siting of the Theatre complex near Sllckrock Bike Trail, the BLM, the U of U, and other project supporters are taking the course of action best suited for "bulldozing ahead on the development, and turning Moab Into the "Wolftrap of the West" and a new Santa Fe. Don't be a nuisance and point out that those are not places where most of us would like to live (well, maybe 10 or 20 years ago, but not since theyve "grown). Not to worry, smarter and brighter folks than us are pushing this project ahead "for our own good. 9.5 million dollar Kokopelli FOOT IN THE DOOR STRATEGY They've chosen the old "foot In the door strategy. Open the door with a little air theatre In a natural amphitheatre and then push through the rest of the $9.5 "open million project -- - Santa Fe watch out! of U has now filed a formal application for lease of the land near the that Includes no structures, changes, enclosed stages In fact nothing that would Involve any costs at all (except for temporary expenses associated with a particular performance). They know that once they have this first lease for the original low level development, then any changes can be made by a simple amendment to the lease which requires little more than approval by the "authorized BLM officer. Little If any public process or comments are required. BLM would probably toss In an EA for good PR, particularly since an EA Is little more than a rubber stamp procedure anyway, and almost never gets In the way of a project backed by the BLM. The unfortunate result of this tragedy Is that we cant trust the project even at a of development -- - we are forced to decide whether Moab would be better or low level very worse off as the "Wolftrap of the West, whether we want to be an art center that "will put Santa Fe out of business. (How many of us could afford to live In Santa Fe or outside Wolftrap?) The application filed by the U of U Involves a project with so little scope and Impact that they don't even need to file an R&PP lease application for the land. They could simply get BLM permission to use the area for open air performances (as they had planned to do for Oedipus Rex this fall, before performance problems made them change the location). The only reason for pursuing the R&PP lease option Is for the much, much larger development ahead. But once theyve got the land and the funding from Congress, any opinions from the folks who live and work In Moab are not going to count for very much. The U Sllckrock Bike Trail BLM SCOPING PROCESS The proponents of this project have thus far been afraid to ask the residents of Moab whether or not they want this kind of development, because they suspected the answer would not be what they wanted. The only public meeting to date was the BLM scoping meeting In early August this meeting was professionally conducted, the scoping format was chosen specifically to avoid hearing whether or not the public supported the project The BLM scoping process Is used to Identify potential problems and Issues to be addressed In preparing an EA or EIS for a project and Is an excellent tool when used for Its Intended purpose. Otherwise It Is like abusing any other tool -- - pounding nails with a saw or cutting wood with a hammer It can be done, but the results are rather poor. The scoping process worked very well when conducted for the Bookcllffs Road project -- - Issues to be addressed In the forthcoming EIS were Identified and listed. There, we had a clearly Identified project and other more general public hearings had already been held prior to the scoping process. It was Inappropriate at the road scoping hearing to discuss whether or not we supported the overall project -- - we were only to Identify Issues. While It worked well. At the Theatre project scoping meeting, It was difficult for some people project Itself. Were the Issues to be Identified for the Kokopelli Theatre? to Identify or for the the If for the theatre, were we addressing the original open air Sllckrock Recreation Area? million new or the $9.5 extravaganza for which bills have now been submitted In proposal both the House and Senate? Nevertheless, a long list of relevant Issues and concerns were Identified for use In a future EA or EIS. Even though the confusion mentioned above doesnt really matter that much, the following misuse of the results of the scoping process Is of more concern. In a recent meeting, the results of the theatre scoping meeting were used by BLM as evidence that there was predominate support at the scoping meeting for the theatre project This was a particularly Interesting result since they had chosen the scoping format specifically to avoid the chance of hearing what the public felt about the project Heres how they arrived at this conclusion. 1) People were concerned that If the Wolftrap size project were to be built the large building might not be appropriate by the Sllckrock Bike Trail (or should be built downtown). 2) This was then Interpreted to mean the project should be "constructed to fit the environment 3) Then, If the buildings can be made to fit In, there will be support for the project 4) If we hire a world class architect he will be able to make the large structures fit In. 5) We will hire a world class architect (Instead of U of U grad students). 6) Therefore a majority of the people at tire meeting would probably support the project .....Oh, really? (And what about all the other concerns? Lets not be dreary. Look at the bigger Wealth and culture and prosperity for Moab as far Into the future as we can see. picture. After all, growth and an expanding economy are the only known criteria for measuring the success of a community.) STATE LAND EXCHANGE RESOLUTION The board of directors overseeing both the Kokopelli Theatre project and the Moab PACK CREEK RANCH PACK CREEK RANCH HAS CLOSED ITS RESTAURANT FOR THE REMAINDER O7 THE YEAR THANKS TC ALL OUR CUSTOMERS. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR. Phone (801) 259-550- 5 |
