We received the following letter from Carolyn Campbell, Executive Director of The Coalition For Sonoran Desert Protection. Their concerns should be our concerns. We hope many OV residents will attend the meeting and endorse the Coalition's position.
**************************************************************************************
Friends:
The Town of Oro Valley is considering the adoption of an Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance (ESLO) at the upcoming Mayor and Council meeting, Wednesday February 16 (tomorrow evening), 5pm.
The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection has submitted a letter(see letter below) to the Mayor and Council, and I will be attending the public hearing on behalf of the Coalition. To summarize our position, we are supportive of the ESLO but have concerns about some of the language and are proposing changes.
I hope that many of you can attend this hearing tomorrow evening. Perhaps consider speaking as well. There has been quite a bit of pressure from the home builders and development community to weaken the ESLO to the point where it would be irrelevant. The Mayor and Council would be well-served by hearing from Oro Valley residents and other citizens.
Here is the time and location of the meeting; followed by a link to the agenda and supporting materials:
AGENDA
REGULAR SESSION
ORO VALLEY TOWN COUNCIL
February 16, 2011
ORO VALLEY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
11000 N. LA CAÑADA DRIVE
REGULAR SESSION AT OR AFTER 5:00 PM
item 3
PUBLIC HEARING - ORDINANCE NO. (O) 11-01 ADOPTING THE ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE LANDS ORDINANCE, AMENDING THE ORO VALLEY ZONING CODE REVISED, CHAPTER 21, REVIEW AND DECISION-MAKING BODIES, CHAPTER 23, ZONING DISTRICTS, CHAPTER 31, DEFINITIONS, AND ADDING A NEW SECTION 27.10, ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE LANDS, ATTACHED HERETO AS EXHIBIT "A", AND AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE LANDS PLANNING MAP, ATTACHED HERETO AS EXHIBIT "B"; REPEALING ALL RESOLUTIONS, ORDINANCES, AND RULES OF THE TOWN OF ORO VALLEY IN CONFLICT THEREWITH; PRESERVING THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES THAT HAVE BEEN ALREADY MATURED AND PROCEEDINGS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEGUN THEREUNDER
Please contact me if you would like to discuss the Coalition's comments. Thanks everyone,
Carolyn
--
Carolyn Campbell
Executive Director
Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection
300 E University Blvd, #120
Tucson, AZ 85705
520-388-9925
www.sonorandesert.org
Letter To Mayor & Council from Carolyn
Mayor Satish Hiremath and Councilmembers
Town of Oro Valley
11000 North La Cañada Dr.
Oro Valley, AZ 85737
RE: Ordinance No. (O) 11-01 Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance
Dear Mayor Hiremath and Town Council Members:
I am writing to you today on behalf of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, comprised of 39 environmental and community organizations in southern Arizona. Our mission is to achieve the long-term conservation of biological diversity and ecological function of the Sonoran Desert through comprehensive land-use planning, with primary emphasis on Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. After reviewing the new Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance (ESLO) on your February 16, 2011 agenda, we urge you to adopt this important new tool for preserving environmentally sensitive lands in Oro Valley.
Through my participation on the Town’s ESLO Technical Advisory Committee, I was able to provide input on some pieces of the ordinance during its development. However, it was not until recently that I was able to review the ordinance language itself.
Overall, the Coalition is supportive of the ESLO. We commend the Town for incorporating strong protections for wildlife linkages, including the creation of the Major Wildlife Linkages category. Prohibiting roads and strictly limiting ground disturbance is essential if these linkages are to remain functional for wildlife habitat and movement. The Town is uniquely situated in the middle of the Tortolita-Santa Catalina Mountains wildlife linkage and we appreciate all of the Town’s efforts in recent years to preserve this linkage in perpetuity, including the adoption of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and the Arroyo Grande General Plan Amendment in 2008. We applaud the groundwork that has been laid thus far – it has created a critical foundation for the many steps that still need to be taken for this linkage to be permanently preserved.
We also support the inclusion of requirements such as evaluating connectivity among adjacent parcels while designating open space areas; the preservation of rock outcrops, boulders, and distinctive individual native plants and plant stands; and the requirement that environmentally sensitive open space (ESOS) must be platted separately from a developed lot.
With that said, it is our understanding that there have been proposed changes to this last point, with revisions allowing ESOS to be included as part of a residential lot if the lot is greater than ½ acre in size. We disagree with this change and urge the Council to keep the language currently in the ESLO regarding the separation of ESOS from developed lots in all cases. This separation is crucial to ensuring the integrity and function of this open space for wildlife
habitat and movement. As the ESLO very clearly exhibits on pages 73-74, consolidating ESOS into larger areas of land separate from developed lots can have a stark and meaningful impact on how the ESOS functions. This consolidation leads to wider swaths of ESOS with adequate buffers to adjacent development. If ESOS is included in a developed lot, on the other hand, it will likely be subject to significantly more use, impacts, and “edge effects” from the nearby homes and residents (for more detailed scientific information on the conservation value of clustered housing developments see: Lenth et al. 2006. Conservation value of clustered housing developments. Conservation Biology 20:1445–1456).
Finally, and importantly, starting on page 83, “allowable uses” in Environmentally Sensitive Open Space (ESOS) are described. For the Resource Management Area category, these uses include golf courses and passive and active recreation facilities such as soccer fields and picnic ramadas. We could not disagree more strongly with the inclusion of these “allowable uses” in ESOS. ESOS is defined as “lands designated as permanent, natural open space” (emphasis added). “Natural open space” should have dedicated land uses that are compatible with viable wildlife habitat and exist in an undisturbed state with regard to intentional, construction related activities of any kind. Uses may include hiking, bird-watching, and other passive recreational activities that have little to no impact on the actual physical environment. The creation of soccer fields and golf courses would require mass grading of Sonoran Desert habitat; result in a diverse native species palette being replaced by turf; and bring in adjacent roads, parking lots, and detrimental noise, all serious adverse impacts to ecological integrity and major contributors to habitat fragmentation. As a result, the diversity of native species decreases and the stated intent to conserve viable habitat and wildlife connections is negated. We strongly urge you to remove these allowable uses from the Resource Management Area category. If one of the goals of the ESLO is to “conserve natural resources,” this change is absolutely crucial. With the ESLO as currently written, the function of important natural resources and their value to wildlife will be destroyed, not conserved, through these proposed “allowable uses”.
Again, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection is generally very supportive of the ESLO. We commend the Town of Oro Valley for its substantial efforts to preserve environmentally sensitive lands. At your February 16th meeting, we urge you to approve the ESLO with the changes outlined above.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the scientific basis of our recommendations and their advisability in reaching your stated goals of conservation, please consider soliciting feedback from other members of your ESLO Technical Advisory Committee, such as John Windes, Arizona Game and Fish Department; Sherry Ruther, Pima County Environmental Planning Manager; and Scott Richardson, US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Thank you for considering our comments. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Campbell
Executive Director
cc: Jerene Watson, Town Manager, Town of Oro Valley
Bayer Vella, Conservation and Sustainability Manager, Town of Oro Valley
David Williams, Planning Director, Town of Oro Valley
No comments:
Post a Comment