March 6, 2014 Council Meeting: A resounding theme continued to be heard from the public concerning Public Safety ….. Fast and Dangerous Traffic in the area of Sunset and Tuweap Drive…… A ¾ of a mile area with a posted 40 MPH Speed Limit….. Which East and West bound traffic reportedly exceeds on a daily basis…… Particularly, During School Hours…..This ongoing condition endangers CHILDREN walking along the roadway. A TRAGEDY waiting to happen….. Not to mention traffic attempting to enter onto Sunset from Tuweap Drive where limited visibility exists.
Thanks to Mayor Pike’s efforts to allow a block of time at the beginning of regular scheduled council meeting, Mr. Brooks, a member of the community was able to make this condition known…..Not only to the Council and City Staff, but to the public at large.
With a continued emphasis being made on Traffic Enforcement throughout the city this begs the question on how this City Council sets priorities for the expenditure of funds when it comes to Public Safety….. Installation of needed Signal Lights…..Cross Walks…..Adequate Number of Police Personal assigned to Traffic Enforcement. GOOD questions and one that needs to be publicly addressed as tax revenues continues to increase/ improve.
Expectations exist that the Mayor and City Council are to LEAD, Guide and Direct the City Manager on acceptable levels of application of city resources especially when it comes to Public Safety and to hold him accountable for the implementation of Council/Public values.
ZONING…..LAND USE DISIGNATION followed on the heels of Public Safety and will undoubtedly impact the quality of life of St. George and Washington City residents. This was assured when the City Council approved an amendment to the General Plan Land Use Map changing the land use designation from Professional Office and Business Park to Commercial and High Density Residential on approximately 47.5 acres located on both sides of the proposed extension of Mall Drive just south of Riverside Drive and north of the Virgin River.
This will allow for Commercial Development on about 31 acres which I believe may very well allow for a grocery store ….. Perhaps a Smith Food King Market that will be easily accessible to Washington City residents once the completion of Mall Drive Bridge takes place in August or September of this year. You can expect a City Park to be located near the LDS Church and a High Density Residential Development just east of Mill Creek High School. Approximately 92% of development will be outside the 100 year Flood Plain.
The approval of Zone Change did not come without public input in which local attorney, Jinks Dabney most eloquently expressed his opinion and made the suggestion that the city adhere to its own policy/rules concerning development on Flood Plains. Mr. Dabney admonished “look at your own rules, change them or throw them out” suggesting, don’t ignore them.
City Manager Esplin responded by clearly articulating the actions and care the city has exercised in complying with efforts to protect the environmental concerns for the Virgin River and Open Space area we all take pride in.
WATER….. It goes without saying that without a sufficient quantity and appropriate quality of water our life style would forever be drastically altered. Without water we would not have to worry about the Quality of Life for without WATER there would be no life. Just as we need to manage water and traffic safety perhaps we need to consider long term planning for Managed growth.
Keeping this thought in mind I wish to thank Ron Thompson, General Manager, Washington County Water Conservancy District for his insightful presentation to the Council and Public as to the status of our current drought situation and the ongoing efforts to obtain and preserve our water resources.
We must be diligent in our efforts to preserve, protect and perpetuate our way of life. To do so we must need be vigilant in holding our government representatives accountable. Please forward your interests and concerns.
Thank you, Ed
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