Voters support smart growth in El Paso, across US

Voters in El Paso, Texas, overwhelmingly supported $473 million in “quality of life” bonds that will fund city parks and cultural venues to implement what Natural Resources Defense Council blogger Kaid Benfield called “among the best, most articulate comprehensive plans I have ever seen.”

Voters also supported smart growth and transit measures in many other cities and towns across the country — e.g. in Philadelphia, Arlington, and Virginia Beach. A  few proposals were defeated — in some cases they received majority support but a two-thirds vote was required.

The El Paso bonds, supported on November 8 by a 3 to 1 margin, were among the most impressive smart growth election results this year. Earlier this year, the city adopted Plan El Paso (see Better! Cities & Towns April-May, 2012).

“Everything that was taken to the voters was designed to implement Plan El Paso and create a dynamic urban center,” city manager Joyce Wilson told Better! Cities & Towns. “Within 5 years, it will be a game changer relative to what El Paso is now. In 10 years, [the result] will be absolutely amazing.”

One of the measures, about $240 million, will fund parks throughout the city. Another will go toward a $180 million arena for sports, concerts, and theatrical shows — plus provide additional capacity for the downtown convention center. A children’s museum and cultural history center are also funded.

A final measure levies a 2 percent increase on the hotel tax to pay for a AAA baseball stadium. A team is slated to move to El Paso for 2014. The stadium will be built on the site of the current city hall, a hulking 1970s building surrounded by asphalt. The city hall will be moved to three vacant, underutilized buildings within a block and a half of each other in the city center.

In addition, city council has recently taken other steps toward realizing the vision in Plan El Paso:

• Downtown’s primary public space for 100 years, San Jacinto Plaza, which has fallen into disrepair, will get $5 million for redesign and improvement. “New paving, seating areas, park cafes and street promenades are just some of the planned additions for the revamp that will help improve the overall appearance and atmosphere of the central location,” the city notes.

Streetscape improvements

The city has also allocated $10 million for streetscape improvements in advance of the signature projects approved by voters. Of the four bus rapid transit lines proposed in Plan El Paso, two are under construction, a third has Federal Transit Authority funding through the Small Starts program, and the fourth is in planning. All four are expected to be running by 2017. In addition, the city plans to launch a rail streetcar line with restored Art Deco cars that El Paso used from 1949 to 1974 connecting downtown, the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP), and the international border. The city will seek state funding next year.

“The estimated cost to restore one original car is between $1.6 million and $2.5 million, while a replica would cost about $1.2 million.” The additional cost is worth it to preserve a piece of authentic history, officials say.

The investment is spurring new development downtown and near transit-oriented sites, Wilson says. Since the baseball stadium was announced, six properties have changed hands. UTEP is expanding, Texas Tech is launching an expanded architecture program downtown, and a local corporation is taking steps to relocate to the city center.

There was significant opposition to the 2 percent tax increase, Wilson says, but this nevertheless passed by a 60-40 margin. Wilson credits a year-long public engagement process related to Plan El Paso. “I also believe there is pent up hunger and demand for certain types of amenities that we have had not had up to this time,” she said.

Other news

In other election results, according to Smart Growth America:

• In Arlington, VA, voters widely supported a series of bond measures totaling more than $100 million to support investments in transit, smart growth, community infrastructure and other neighborhood improvements.

• In Philadelphia, PA, voters said yes to a ballot question that asked whether the city could borrow $123 million for capital improvements on transit, streets and sanitation, municipal buildings, parks and recreation, museums and economic/community development.

• In Virginia Beach VA, about 62 percent of voters favored extending Tide light rail service into the city. The final decision will be made by the City Council, but the vote underscores widespread public support for the project. A similar referendum failed in 1999. “City Council now has the confidence that this is what the citizens really want,” said Carolyn McPherson, executive director of Light Rail Now told The Virginian-Pilot.

• In Longmont CO, voters extended tax-increment financing by 20 years for redevelopment and community improvements. The TIFs would have expired in 2013.

• In Marin County CA, Measure A received nearly 74 percent of the vote. The sales tax increase will raise approximately $10 million per year for nine years to preserve open space and farmland and to maintain parks and recreational programs.

• In Everett WA and Orange County NC, voters approved sales taxes that will fund transit operations in those regions. Meanwhile, voters in Kalamazoo MI, Muskegon City MI, Eaton County MI and Mahoning County OH funded similar operations via the renewal of mill levy property taxes.

• In Michigan, Ohio and Maine, voters strongly rejected a series of ballot initiatives that would have asked communities to withdraw from regional transit agencies. Case in point: 73 percent of Kent County MI voted to not withdraw from the Grand Rapids area transit agency, while 70 percent of voters in Falmouth ME rejected a similar measure.

• In Stephenson County IL, voters narrowly passed a show of support for a county-wide transit system supported by federal, state and local funds.
A number of initiatives failed to pass:

• In Los Angeles County CA, voters narrowly failed to pass a transportation sales tax extension to Measure R, which was first approved in 2008. The initiative, which needed 2/3 of the vote but only garnered 65 percent, would have extended Measure R’s expiration date from 2039 to 2069, providing more guaranteed revenue now to finish current projects quickly.

• In Alameda County CA, voters also came very close to passing a half-cent sales tax increase to raise $7.8 billion over 30 years for transit, road, bicycle and pedestrian projects. But despite 65.5 percent of voters saying yes to the measure, the initiative failed to pass because it did not receive the 2/3 supermajority necessary in California.