No. of Recommendations: 6
For once, I agree with Marco. Community values = NIMBY
Nope. Not NIMBY. Just a community that wants to stop the worst kind of destructive development. And this is not a bunch of elite rich folks in opposition. It's the elite rich developers who want to make a bunch of money off the feeding frenzy in real estate that is going on here now. But this town is mostly made up of low wage workers supporting the tourist industry. So, at least in this case...NO, not the NIMBYs you posit.
An example is a development in a beautiful area along the Colorado River. Bought by developers who promised a 'preserve' with some housing. The proposal then morphed into a huge development with hundreds of houses and condos and commercial infrastructure. The development is on the flood plain of the river. Huge amounts of fill were brought in, much of it large cobble rock that will not consolidate well. The location is out of reach of the cities sewer system, so the developers will have to build their own system on land adjacent to the river, which is problematic. The county tried to prevent this, but was overruled by the state legislature. The access road is very narrow and hugs a cliff in places. If this development goes in it will increase traffic on this undersized road immensely and it already gets a lot of use from recreationists. Will the developers pay for a hugely expensive improvement to that road? No, that's left for the taxpayers. All in all it is a poorly conceived project. And this contested development is one of the reasons for the huge victory in this election for those who want reasonable zoning and planning.
And you needn't worry about development being overly restricted here. The growth over the last 10 years has been astonishing and the strains on the community are obvious. Housing prices are significantly higher than the national average, with median home values around $478,700 compared to the national median of $303,400. Tourist town = low wage jobs, expensive housing.
The idea that development is being choked off here by NIMBYs is absurd and counterfactual. But balancing quality of life with reasonable growth is a worthwhile goal.
