I believe we all know and are concerned about the "water issue," but please read Hector's recent analysis on the transportation impact, should Arroyo Grande be developed.
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Cost of state land plan for the Arroyo Grande Project.
To start with, the cost of bringing in CAP water would be about $150 million to the infrastructure.
A six-lane road costs about $8 million per mile per lane and with the cost of the land would become probably more than $359 million.
The idea of spending that money for a $129 million land sale baffles me. I hope somebody has done some calculations. Otherwise, I urge the State Land Department to stop and study the cost-benefits to the state and the taxpayers and reconsider.
Nine million acres of state land are available elsewhere. Nowhere do the statutes say state lands have to be sold at any schedule, or ever. The land will only increase in value. And state land sales do not increase the education budget, either.
Click here to read more of Hector's enlightened writings.
8 comments:
One needs to read only the third paragraph of Conde's presentation to gain a clear understanding of how mis-informed he is on this important issue.
The project does not extend to Oracle Junction. It stops at the Pima/Pinal County line.
The job aren't in just in Tucson. Much of the proposed development is geared toward high paying bio-tech employers. Many of the potential residents of that area may work in Oro Valley.
His figures for potential residents(and everything that flows from the number of residents) are flawed simply because no hard zoning has been accomplished for the land in question
Mr. Conde has offered some insightful comments in the past. This just isn't one of his better offerings.
ov ot:
I think you need to reread Mr Conde's presentation - he said IF the project extended beyond the Pima Cty line.
You said:
Much of the proposed development is geared toward high paying bio-tech employers.
It maybe geared torwards but I don't believe this is a given,especially with economic times as they are and not knowing how the energy crisis will impact the future.
Many of those people may find it easier to commute to jobs in Pinal county - so I wouldn't count on them spending tax dollars in Oro Valley.
raindancer
Rain...The portion of Mr. Conde's presentation that is proceeded with the qualifier "if" is the population numbers. However there are no plans at this time to go into Pinal. He is taking the density numbers from the existing Arroyo Grande project and projecting them, making for a big alarming number, which is simply his way of creating a red herring.
His road way calculation are based on the Oracle Junction intersection.
There are no plans at this time, as far as I know, for a bio-tech park, center, pod or single business in Pinal County. Strangely bio-tech is not being hurt as much in this economy as many other sectors.
Granted all sectors are not hit hitting on all cylinders at present but the economy is cyclic and the Arroyo Grande will not become a reality in the current economic cycle. So today will have little effect.
Let's not kid ourselves; just because we have a few biotech companies located here, that
doesn't mean that this area will become a technology or biotecnology powercenter. Yes, because of the University of Arizona facility we are going to get 'our share' but in a major way, I don't think so. Folks, you must come out of your cocoons and visit reality. You 'projectors' are simply going to have to perhaps travel and get a grip on the totality of it all. Visit Research Triangle Park abuting Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina with it's approximately 40 companies classified as biotechs, it's Biotechnology Center, Duke University, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. And for family living and location desirability it's hard to beat.
I am hearing talk like we are the biotechnology center of the universe; we're not! Yes, we will probably continue to get some of it but proportionally, not much. If I am so 'taken' with the quality of life in North Carolina you might ask, why did we move here. Whereas we love the climate here, many FAMILYS will not. Careful, I've seen even established companies dump where they are and simply move, especially if they are expanding or consolidating and can't get the pool of potential employees they need to draw from. Lack of informed perspective is NOT a good thing.
Now, as to the transportation impact, the lay of the land WILL dictate how much traffic an area can handle - from Catalina to Tucson, not much. I think you all will get a clearer picture of this situation when the OVM opens. Additional 'highways' seem not to be an option. We are within what I call a 'wedge' terrain - mountains to the east, mountains to the west, and 'horizontal' mountains in between. The San Francisco area has several of these 'wedges'; go
there, take a drive and enjoy.
Zev......I am curious. What do you suppose is the employment population of this bio-tech center in NC and are these industries clustered in a relatively small geographic area?
OVOT
I do suggest that you search 'Research Triangle Park' and also 'Biotechnology Research Triangle Park on your web engine. Through hitting different sites I think you can get a better picture than I can give you in this space. The total of all employees in RTP is 39,000. The developable acreage is 600+. The core of RTP is designed with a lot of easy rolling open space. Understand that there are peripheral business parks ie Regency Park in Cary as well as many other free-standing facilities in the area. RTP itself is like a center that 'spokes' out to Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill. Incidentally it has other large professional companies, other technologies, too. But, as I stated, I think you can get a clearer picture by a search. Good luck and let me know your thoughts.
Zev
Thanks, Zev. I appreciate the info.
Don
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