A call to fight

“I was contacted this week and approached with a strange request...."we need beautiful photographs of Yokohl Valley for a law suit against J.G. Boswell the State's largest cotton farmer, who owns 36,000 acres in Yokohl Valley and wants to create a new town there. We also need photographs of erosion and other negative subjects as a result of development"

The man is very welthy and has the county jumping at the chance to get more tax dollars...don't know if they can win.

The area being considered for development is just west of an area I have been photographing lately...



”

“Wow - gorgeous pics, gorgeous place!”

“Looks like a beautiful place...




...to put a town.”

“will they have a wal*mart?”

“mmmm that would be a perfect setting for a golf course.”

“mmmm that would be a perfect setting for a golf course.”
Spirit Coyote

that was exactly what I was thinking...of course having been involved with golf courses for almost 30 years I would. What a backdrop for an elevated green in that second shot...MMMMmmmm”

“I was thinking golf course.”

“a new town??!!...i didn't even know we still did such a thing...this is so very wild wild west...if i show up with a couple six shooters and kill some bad guys you think they'll let me be the sheriff?”

“Wear a serape and smoke a cheroot!”

“WHAT IS WITH THESE PEOPLE..."J.G. Boswell the State's largest cotton farmer, who owns 36,000 acres in Yokohl Valley and wants to create a new town there."where do they get off thinking they can do what they want with private property????!!! I mean just becuase they own it, JEEEZ what do they think this is America or something?”

“I'm curious. Would they feel any differently if the acerage was owned by a group of, say, 100 people? Is the issue that one person stands to profit from the venture or is the issue environmental impact? Is the valley currently accessible to anyone who wants to use it? Or is it private property? Where do you stand on the issue, Windwalker?

It sure is beautiful there.”

“A new town? Fully self-supporting or would the new residents would have to commute very long distances for employment?

Being a free country, the best way to prevent the fragmentation of that property is for some entity to purchase it in total.

The conversion of agricultural land to residential often has the baggage of excessive dangerous ground chemicals.

I expect, the water there has been depleted and farming is no longer viable, would there be enough water for a big development?
last edited: 4/03/06 9:03:10 AM”

“well, I imagine some of them will have jobs as hired mercenaries to keep the riff raff out of town and the surrounding countryside”

“i've already called that job hyway, back off”

“Of course, very large developments in rural areas often severely strain the existing ablility of the local services and infrastructure to serve such a development

so, a developer is not necassarily free to do as he pleases with his own land.

Its simple, lets just say he can profit $10,000 an acre from such a project, thats $360,000,000. Maybe, up front, to acquire the opprtunity to install such a development, the developer should be required to place maybe $50 million into a fund for developing local infrastructure and services.

Might make him think twice about landuse alternatives.

I am not in favor of the rich getting richer at the expense of their neighbors, the developer should be required to incur the true and full costs of his actions and then of course any profits are his.
last edited: 4/03/06 9:14:29 AM”

“i guess we just need to stop breeding”

“so should this developer share in any profits from businesses that profit from his developing local infrastructure and services?”

“Even if population growth stopped, increasingly affluency allows many to relocate from crowded areas to less crowded areas or to build second homes in the less crowded areas.”

“The difference between a developer and an environmentalist is that a developer wants to build a house in the woods, but a environmentalist already has one.”

“Good one, Hyway”

“LOL@ Hyway...can I plagarize you on that...or shall I footnote each time I use that comment????”

“plagarize me, I am plagarizing someone else”

“It is a planned community with shopping centers, etc. and rumored to be by invitation only.

Right now the land is only used by the cattle that graze the hillsides....no crops that I know of....but the pot farmers do like this elevation ;)

I'm not sure where I stand on this...it is his land.....there have been numerous small developments popping up all over the foothills in recent years....why is this one such a big deal?

Lot's of purdy wildflowers in Yokohl Valley.”

“Well, hey, Wind Walker, if you can make some moolah taking some pretty pics, I say go for it! You can remain neutral on the issue (if you so desire) yet take photos for your client. The ones you just posted are gorgeous and better than a good start!”

“

I bet it'll go over quite well. Don't you think?

On a more serious note, there is a new town being developed just south of me. So this isn't anything out of the ordinary. It happens all the time in growth areas.”

“Yeah....I could probably make more money working for Boswell :)”

“That pic HPM posted reminds me of one of my favorite phases. I live on the coast in a tourist area with lots of transplanted yankees. Too long for a bumper sticker, but here its is:

If you think its beautiful now, you should see it before YOU got here.”

“More photos and info towards the bottom of this page...

http://www.tarol.com/springsunday.html
last edited: 4/04/06 1:18:25 PM”