As the Central West Steering Committee begins to present its development plan for the area near the intersection of Estes Drive and Martin Luther King Boulevard, it should speak with one voice.
A separate plan proposed by a minority of the committee attempts to preserve the residential aspects of the area. The plan had its most valuable ideas incorporated into the majority’s plan. It should now be abandoned and the minority should come back into the fold in order to move foward.
The minority’s plan was partially focused on traffic increases that often follow development.
However, the current plan has an answer to this.
With a large amount of multipurpose land use, drivers would park once and be able to stop at a variety of businesses. The plan also includes development of walkways and bike paths, promoting alternatives to cars.
Protection of the environment is also a significant concern. However, the recommendation to construct buildings in the range of five to eight stories would decrease the required area of contructed buildings.
There is also a proposition to include a land swap, helping negate the overall cost to the environment.
The Citizen’s First Plan had commendable efforts behind it. The point of minority efforts isn’t to see them enacted, it is merely to get the ideas out there.
Ralph Nader could never have won the presidency, but he ran so that the Green Party’s values gained attention.
