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Show PAGE 38 THE ZEPHYR AUGUST 1994 i Feedback The readers respond This is the Letter of the Month... Dear Jim Stiles, I'm writing from Santa Fe, N.M., where the dice have rolled me for the time being. As a I thought a little perspective from a former Moab resident 0973-83- ), community that has reached an extreme stage of development might be insightful The two towns may represent the spectrum of the "New West" as the phrase has been coined. I have a pet theory. It has a sort of verbose title (titles seem so impressive): "The 2nd Manifest Destiny-HoTax Avoidance Changed the West". We Americans often Capital Gains feel abused by the Government's taxation of our meager livelihoods. It can become an obsession finding ways to avoid paying these taxes. CPA's make handsome livings helping us do just that. Consider the urban transplant, who has just sold his house for upwards of $30Q,000 with a profit of $85,000. He has two choices: 1) pay the 28 tax on the SSg's and keep the remaining cash; 2) buy a new house within 2 years for the same amount or higher and pay no tax. Most everyone picks choice 2. So, think about it. Now, when he moves to a desirable small town in what used to be the low cost West, he has to spend a ridiculously disproportionate amount of money for the area he's moving to IF he so dearly wishes not to give the government any of the profits on his previous home sale. So goes intermountain real estate prices, and with that, so goes property taxes. On a different note, Santa Fe is like Moab, in that, other than the government jobs in tourism and construction are it. So why do prices keep escalating when there's no work? A local builder once offered me an interesting perspective on this. He has built in both Texas and California, and he has seen both fall apart When asked why he felt Santa Fe would not collapse, he replied, "There's no industry here to fail bo the people keep on coming, even though they know full well w there's no work. They come or gainfully unemployed). Add (ie. to this the technological advances of fiber optic communications and modems.. .Well, the West will never be the same. As to solutions to these problems (not everyone calls them problems, I guess), I would venture to say that this is, as my pet theory would say "Destiny". If so, then we probably have little or no control over foe situation. You might call that a dire evaluation. My apologies. self-suppli- ed self-employ-ed Sincerely, Michael Pearce Santa Fe, NM J. Dear Jim: don't know where Hart McGuire has been since and particularly during the Grand Plan this last General year. In a series of town meetings County community planning workshops and planning workshops facilitated by Bette Stanton, Craig Bigler, and David Bell over the past seven years, community participants have been quite consistent in articulating their vision for Moab, i.e., the values they wish to see expressed and respected in foe community: What people say they want is a community which: -preserves open space and a rural character -keeps the environment (air and water) unpolluted keeps a diverse, pluralistic population develops a diversified economy -keeps bureaucracy and regulations to a minimum with local taxpayer dollars. doesn't subsidize development and tourist support services What is particularly impressive is that a majority of every known interest group in Grand County has expressed this set of desires for foe community: real estate developers, and brokers. Chamber of Commerce members, Western Land Users' Association and private property rights activists, environmentalists, miners, and ranchers. To me, this set of specifications describes a dear vision of a community - foe characteristics of a place to live that one wants to live in. The dtizens have already said (over and over) that st they do not want a economy, which is what you get if your community depends on one industry (mining or tourism) for the vast majority of revenue. The dtizens have already said (over and over) that they value the unusual diversity of people and views among foe residents of Moab, and don't want to see government policies that would make our community mare homogeneous (and a lot less entertaining politically). Of course, what we have heard has been from those who turn up and speak out at meetings. As part of the General Plan process, representative community household survey will be made of roughly ten percent of all households in Grand County (there are 4584 residences in Grand County, as far as I can tell). The survey will document what the community values and issues are among all residents of Grand County. The survey will provide a lot of focus and support for the General Plan effort, but I would be very surprised to find from it that foe points of consensus across interest groups in workshops (listed above) are not shared by most citizens of our county. I think we know what community amenities we want to preserve; what things threaten these amenities; therefore what needs amtrolling. The problems we face at this point are not in The vision thing", but figuring out how to get a cinch on foe critters which need some controlling. Far example, how do we run a "tourist trap so we get money to pay for tourist infrastructure impacts without turning into nothing but a tourist trap? How do we preserve agriculture (which provides open space and "rural character") and make it a meaningful part of a diversified local economy, while being economically realistic? What are foe growth limits imposed by our drinking water supplies? How do we protect those drinking water supplies from contamination by growth? What kind of public policies help market forces provide affordable housing? How do we write zoning ordinances which can tell the difference between hazards to public health and safety, versus eccentric but harmless differences in taste over how one expresses oneself in housing and yard landscaping? I've talked to more than a few people who react as I do when someone else we haven't heard g from before comes along and says we need to go through a(nother) community exercise: We've said what our vision is over and over again. Now we need to be listened to, and get done what needs to be done to keep or achieve the community characteristics we already know we want. I 1987, -- -- -- vision-definin- Sincerely yours, Lance Christie Member, Grand County Planning and Zoning Commission Editor's Note: Mr. McGuire is from California Stiles, Over foe years, I've come to admire and look forward to your rag as one willing to tackle important issues with a presentation that is factual full of wit and attempted wit and good natured with its sticks and jabs. The Zephyr has its bent to be sure, but so what - you make no secret of where you stand and, so far as I know, no one is forced to peruse foe paper. So it's disappointing to see these - well, I would describe them as pissing contests, being played out in the editorial and letters sections of the Zephyr. If I recall correctly, you invited readers to send in their views and comments and promised to print them, be they praise or scorn. I commend you for having foe integrity to publish letters which are critical and sometimes downright derogatory. Regardless of the vigor of your critics though, it does not seem sporting to counterattack or run through a series of third person rebuttals and so forth on and on. Maintain the courage of your convictions and let what you publish in the Zephyr speak for itself. Having invited comments, you should be willing as well to allow your readers' views to stand or fall on their own merits. The parry and thrust of personal attach obscures foe issue which raised foe ruckus in the first place (the important thing), and cheapens the entire process. If only out of respect for your readers, where differing opinions are presented you ought to leave it to us to decide who makes perfect sense and who is a blithering idiot. Steve Russell Moab, UT Dear Jim: Herb Ringer's photos always bring back memories for me, probably because some of them are as old as I am. So keep it up, but let's start getting the captions right Sometimes I think you just make them up and I hate it when journalists exaggerate. e Last month's photo was supposed to be looking up Main Street in Leadville with ML Elbert in foe background." Nice try Jim --but how about " locking down 2nd Street in Leadville with Mt. Massive in foe background". You said nothing about the 2 bars in the foreground: the Pioneer and foe Pastime. Locally known as "Ma Brown's", this area of Leadville, known locally as "Two Street", was an infamous district. Did I ever tell you about the softball game we played at foe for end of 2nd Street with inmates from the Colorado Reformatory and some of Ma Brown's regulars, car how foe back bar from the Pastime wound up at a friend's house across foe Arkansas Valley from Leadville? I seem to be getting off the subject. half-pag- red-lig- ht boom-and-bu- V Charlie Peterson Moab, LIT a Dear Jim Stiles, Just one month ago, we pulled into Moab, from Mesa Verde he Cortez, CO. We had heard about-Moafrom a National Park video, the nanator of which had touted The Arches as Ns favorite Park of all We had left FL two weeks before, eager to wash away two years of retirement boredom, by communing with mountains and by spending an evening in Dallas, TX with some 8th Air Force flying buddies. After San Antonio, TX Carlsbad, NM, Santa Fe, NM we had run out of adjectives, and we started making a list of those words that we could not use again: spectacular, beautiful pretty, neat cute, awesome, and so an. overwhelming, breath-takinawe-inspirin- g, g, COMPUTER SOLUTIONS 50 E. Center 8 Moab, UT. 84532 (801)259-700- 1 (801)259-734- 4 FAX Owned and operated by Don Patterson, well known in the Moab area for computer repairs and service. r Repairs, Service, Installations and Consulting. know computers. Computers are my life. I was raised by computers. I don't have a bite to eat I at lunch; I have a BYTE to eat. Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm |