If the county commissioners are so bent upon doing the “will of the people” as their mission statement claims, why the heck aren’t they doing more to find out what that will is regarding the urban sprawl that is spreading like fungus over the prairie? Surely notifying only the few adjacent property owners and placing public hearing notices in an obscure (at least to the residents of Falcon) paper down in Security/Fountain area or in a small business paper read by few Falcon residents cannot qualify as serving the will of the people.It’s not the greater common good of the people anyway since most of those people haven’t had the opportunity to voice their opinions on what that commongood is —at least not any of the people east of 24 that I’ve talked with regarding the latest developer’s dream on Falcon Highway and Curtis Road (Sante Fe Springs) that keeps on slipping through each little required “public” meeting without any hitches at all.I don’t understand the logic of giving only the adjacent property owners a say when the entire community of Falcon will suffer all the consequences of increased density. Traffic, lifestyles (say goodbye to horses soon…remember just west of Powers?), and especially water concerns immediately come to mind.Is there a water problem or not? Since people are on forced water rationing in the Springs, with fines for violation, I would tend to think so. Never mind the federal government’s concern, and therefore current study due out in 2006, and the myriad of geologists who say we have about 30 years worth of water left for the current population.And yet these commissioners want us to embrace several thousand newresidents over the next years while at the same time demanding us to conserve water or pay the consequences, not only financially but in terms of survival as well. What hypocrisy.Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-growth. However, I am for growth that reflects the current rural citizenry. If we must be squeezed from both ends, at least give us the courtesy of allowing all of us to voice our opinions.The next city meeting with regard to the Sante Fe Springs development is on September 28, 2004.Check www.elpasoco.com for details or e-mail me at jills@elpasotel.net forinformation and ways to become involved.Editor’s Note: The county commissioners sent a notice to adjacent neighbors of the proposed Santa Fe Development regarding a county hearing for an amended sketch plan. The notice did not go out to the greater area of Falcon, and some have questioned the county’s public notice process.Legal notices, including development plans, are listed in the El Paso County News and Advertiser, which is distributed in Fountain, Security and Widefield only. The county puts out a bid to various newspapers to publish the legal notices, and the El Paso County News was the lowest bidder. The only criterion for publishing the legal notices is that the newspaper must be available to the public.Some have argued that if the newspaper is distributed in limited areas of the county, it is not a fair public notice process. Jeff Clark, representing the El Paso County News, said technically the newspaper is available to the entire county – by subscription, so he said the county is providing what is necessary regarding public notices.Jill Spangenberg
