By Leigh House and Gloria Gilmore-HouseLos Alamos
That phrase, from a 1960s protest song, describes what our County proposes to do very soon.
The County Council’s Aug. 27 meeting included a plan to give 2.5 acres of County land to a private developer, TNJ, to build a Marriott hotel and conference center. The land, valued at nearly $2 Million, is located on the recently paved south end of 20th Street, where the “Smart House” is located.
The development plan from TNJ included paving most of the land for parking. Ironically, there may not be enough parking to accommodate the hotel’s guests as well as the 250 to 300 potential attendees of the conference center.
Public comments during the meeting raised other concerns about this planned “give-away”:
- Why is the County proposing to give nearly $2 million to a private developer for a major hotel chain? Several local small business owners described how they built their businesses on their own, without a County subsidy. A representative of the new owners of the Holiday Inn Express remarked that they plan to invest about $2 Million to renovate it, also without a County subsidy. Why is developer TNJ being so favored by the County?
- Why is the return on the County’s investment in this project so low? Materials prepared for the meeting show this land give-away would result in a net benefit to the County of about $50,000 per year. That does not include the employee payroll, which, while it benefits employees, does not benefit the community.
- Why can’t the Canyon Rim Trail go through this property along the rim, rather than being relegated to sidewalks around the hotel?
- Why is this plan being pushed through so quickly? Apparently the County has owned this land since the 1950s or 1960s, so why the rush now to just give it away? The County seems to be treating this land as an unwanted liability, rather than the remarkable resource it is.
The many questions raised about this development seemed to be summed up in a remark by a Councilor: “this project does not seem to be the best use for this land”.
Although the Council anticipated passing a resolution to give the land to developer TNJ at the Aug. 27 meeting, it did not pass. The Council decided to consider this topic again at its Oct. 1 meeting. If you are interested in or concerned by this proposed County give-away, consider attending that meeting to voice your concerns.
Why pave paradise just to put up a parking lot?
