Not a lie

This paper, as well as its sister paper the Santa Cruz Valley Sun, published an advertisement paid for by the Sopori and Las Mesas developers in which I was accused of lying. The statement labeled a lie was “These developments will allow 12,877 and 3,933 homes respectively �-” This statement is not a lie; it is true.

Those numbers are taken directly from the applications filed by developers First United Realty and Garner Canyon Limited in which they asked the county to amend the Comprehensive Plan. Ironically, the final total number approved by the 2 to 1 vote of the board of supervisors is even higher.

It’s simple math and math can’t lie. Take the number of acres in each category of land use and multiply by the maximum number of houses allowed, then add them up. Any fourth-grader could do it. But it seems to be beyond the abilities of these developers and some county employees.

Why are the developers so adamant in denying these numbers? Because they know that we don’t want Santa Cruz County to be turned into another Green Valley, or worse, Phoenix. Their dirty little secret is that the more they can build, the more they can make.

It’s all about greed. They could have developed their land within the Comprehensive Plan and made a nice profit. Every other developer in Santa Cruz County has done so. (Did you know that, in addition to Sorpori and Las Mesas, there are 3,000 new homes already platted and approved in the Amado, Tubac and Tumacacori area �“ all done in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan?) But they wanted more. And in order to get more, they will promise anything. Don’t be fooled. Vote “no” on Props 400 and 401.

Lynn Carey

Tumacacori

It's not political

I am the latest, newest member to the local Rotary Club. I joined Rotary, after many years of thoughtful consideration, specifically for two hugely influential reasons: a) the tremendous charitable contributions it makes, both locally and globally and b) due to the fact that Rotary is committed to maintaining a non-political posture in its efforts.

Granted, the Rosemont Mine is not a political arena and its opponents, including myself, are independent bi-partisans, so it may not be considered "political." However, the commitment to being "non-political" translates for me into going beyond participating in any manner of debate or controversy and maintaining the goal of raising funds for our chosen charitable efforts as our priority.

In no way did the acceptance of a donation from Rosemont Mining Co. even remotely suggest support for the mine on behalf of Rotary to those of us who understand and feel so strongly about the tenets of Rotary.

Those of us who are not "politically" charged had not the slightest premonition that the Rosemont donation would be scathingly misconstrued as support for the Rosemont Mine.

Anne M. Gibson

Long Realty

Sonoita/Patagonia

Water use is an

important issue

An important issue in any new massive development is the water supply. Mixed signals are coming from First United Realty, the owners of the Sopori Ranch development. Page 32 of their application states “�-envisions the preservation of the historic farming (agricultural uses) practices as a long term use�-” and “�-property owners plan to continue agricultural use within the property boundary.”

Since the 2-1 approval of the application by the Board of Supervisors the owners said at the Tubac and Rio Rico forums and were quoted in the Oct. 3, 2008, issue of the Nogales International: “�-the Sopori Ranch has been farming, raising cattle, for well over 100 years. All we’re doing is taking the water used for that purpose, and switching it over to use for homes, and growth and employment. We figure it’s a more beneficial use. It’s not an increased water use.” (my emphasis).

When First United bought the Sopori Ranch they acquired 449.8 acres of irrigated land that has Grandfathered Type 2 Irrigation Right of 1,543.5 acre feet of water per year. Their proposed development requires about 4,000 acre feet per year. So to supply their proposed development they need to mine a new source of water.

That new source lies deeper beneath the farm land. First United cannot mine this source without meeting all Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) requirements. It is highly unlikely they can meet all the requirements, especially the requirement of the Santa Cruz Active Management area that the local aquifer cannot experience long-term decline.

It is folly to change the Sopori Ranch land status for 6,000-12,000 homes, two golf courses, resort and commercial until an adequate water supply is confirmed by ADWR. One more reason to vote “no” on Proposition 400.

William Kurtz

Amado

How much

is enough?

The developers of Las Mesas and Sopori both believe that there is plenty of water for the people who will live in their developments.

The residents of these developments and their individual needs only represent a fraction of the water that will actually be required.

Each house will need electricity. Each kilowatt-hour of thermoelectric generation requires about 25 gallons of consumed water, which does not include water used by pollution-control devices. ("Building Safety Journal" Dec. '07 Yves Kwam, Chief Building Official, Pima Co.)

An average house is about 2,500 sq. ft. A concrete slab on grade requires about 31 cubic yards of concrete with about 36 gallons of water per cubic yard. This equals 1,116 gallons of water per slab x 6,839 homes equals more than 7.6 million gallons of water. Las Mesas with their 2,630 homes will add another 2.9 million gallons of water.

Now that you have a job working at one of these developments, you can go in debt and buy that new car. The construction of an average car consumes almost 120,000 gallons of water. Say you get 30 miles per gallon in your new car. Each gallon of gasoline requires about two gallons of fresh water for refining or about four gallons of water per day for your commute. ("Beyond Peak Oil": Michael Kane 2004)

Because we allow development to happen farther and farther away from our existing towns and cities our dependence on gasoline continues to increase. In March of 2005, the United States consumed 320,500,000 gallons of gasoline per day. Don't forget the 641 million gallons of water consumed to manufacture this gasoline. But don't worry, Sopori and Las Mesas have plenty of water.

Vote “no” on Propositions 400 and 401.

Bruce Pheneger

Tubac