La Mesa Subdivision: Access Denied!
Home Life, Rants and Raves - 4 Comments » - Posted on April, 22 at 2:06 pm
You’ve been hearing me gripe over and over about the subdivision that they wanted to build here in La Mesa for roughly two years now. At long last, all of the hard work protesting this travesty has paid off. The plan to build a subdivision in La Mesa, which was to be called Peyton’s Place, has been denied by the Dona Ana County Commission.
As you may or may not know, depending on how long you’ve been following my blog, the farmland that borders our home was sold when the owner fell into massive debt. The price was rather steep, and as a result, not many of the local farmers considered buying the land. In time a developer bought the land and initially planned to build 80 housing units on it for low income families. In short; bring on the ghettos. You can see some pictures I took of the land in this post if you’re curious.
Naturally the community, especially those who would be living right alongside the subdivision, fought this. There was much hullabaloo and the developer decided it would be best to change his plan and propose only 60 units before trying again.
Clearly he missed our point.
The fact of the matter is, not only was this subdivision unwanted, but the local area could not sustain it. There is hardly a “job market” in this area, be it skilled or unskilled labor. Keep in mind, despite the fact that I often say “the town of La Mesa”, the reality is that La Mesa is not a town. Its proper classification is a village; that’s how small this community is. To top it off, the surrounding roadways would have been adversely affected with the surplus of traffic. Then there’s the issue of water tables and lines to support the 60 units, not to mention the large irrigation canal bisecting the property.1 And what of the schools? La Mesa elementary was changed and now only handles the preschool and kindergarten classes while the new Vado elementary school handles the rest of the grades. A plan I still don’t fully comprehend since, when the new elementary first opened, it was already at capacity. With a new subdivision already going up in Vado there is no place for one in La Mesa. Period.
But the developer tried regardless. To show you how long this battle has been going on, last season the developer decided to have a crop of cotton planted on the land so that the land wasn’t just sitting there and not making money in the meantime.
The developer can, unfortunately, appeal this decision and take this to another level. I sincerely hope he doesn’t and just accepts the fact that his subdivision is not wanted in our community. May the long battle finally be at an end.
- The land in question sits behind our house and is separated from our property by a concrete ditch. Another segment of the land is also located on the opposite bank of the irrigation canal that runs alongside (parallel) to our house. [↩]
Posted in Home Life, Rants and Raves | 4 Comments »
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It is great that it was denied. It would be great if it returned to being farmland. Every year farmland is being turned into something else due to the same situation. Perhaps a big corporation can step in and make a farm out of it. It would create jobs, food, and keep it environmentally friendly.
Nile,
Right now, the hope is that some of the farmers will be able to buy the land and share-crop it. Ultimately it will depend on whether or not the developer will accept this loss and get what money he can, or whether he’s going to continue fighting this.
I would like to think that since the community stonewalled him for two years, and that the County Commission denied it, he will be looking for a new place to build. *crosses fingers*
Congrats on keeping the peace in La Mesa! My “town” is also properly classified as a village. However, no one is taking heed of any of the letters to the local congressman I’m sure. Somehow, they’ve squeezed three more subdivisions, a public library, 2 mini shopping centers, and a handful of grocery stores, gas stations, and fast food restaurants. The traffic is terrible (especially between the 3 schools that are all within WALKING distance) and there is always some vehicular accident drama going on. No one has any elbow ‘oom and somehow recently I found out theyre making plans to build ANOTHER school (Primary). Insane. I need to get out of here I cannot breathe!!! Anyhow, I’m glad you’re able to keep your village..a VILLAGE and not turned into a circus act of population <3
I’m glad to hear your area will not be the new home of a ghetto. I hate those low-income homes and the developers that push them. There are a few that are being proposed in my area and it just sucks.