Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 11:22:14 +1300
To: "Scott D. Egan" ‹sdegan@exchange.co.pima.az.us›
From: Jean Harris ‹jean.harris@stonebow.otago.ac.nz›
Subject: RE: Green Valley
Dear Mr. Egan,
Thank you for your reply outlining your dilemma. Though I understand your decision, I'm sorry to hear you found it necessary to make such a devil's bargain. The lesser of two evils is still an evil. This must surely have been a difficult choice.
Best wishes, Jean Harris
Thank you for contacting the District 4 Office of Supervisor Ray Carroll. I will be sure that Ray sees your message.
Supervisor Carroll shares your concern about golf courses and the use of water on them. The proposed golf course at Canoa, part of the compromise that was reached with Fairfield, has been greatly scaled back from the original plan. In return, Fairfield has dedicated over 80% of the land to open space and is creating a dedicated source of income from home sales for the preservation of the historic Canoa Ranch. The other alternative was to oppose any proposal put forth by them, and thereby risking the subdivision of the entire area into 40 acre wildcat plots. [This was the ruse put forth by the builder to gain the most that they could. Locally, everybody knew it was not more than that. "If you don't let us trash out the ecosystem as we want to for our profit directive, we will let others trash it out even worse" At a prior time they threatened to sue the county for not allowing a rezoning because the land after rezoning would be worth some 24 million dollars more than what they paid for it. They bought it fully aware of the existing zoning but sought to make a killing through the common practice of getting the rezoning and then reselling without having lifted a stick towards building. They have no conception of the sustainable other than seeking it in a rate of return on their financial capital.] The compromise was voted for by a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors.
Thank you again for contacting us, and please don't hesitate to do so again on this or any other issue of concern to you in the future.
Sincerely,
Scott D. Egan
Executive Assistant to Ray Carroll
District 4
-----Original Message-----
From: Jean Harris [mailto:jean.harris@stonebow.otago.ac.nz]
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 4:03 PM
To: Ray Carroll
Subject: Green Valley
Dear Mr Carroll,
I implore you not to build a golf course at Green Valley. There are many ecological and environmental reasons why a golf course should not be built there, but if none of those move you please focus on the practical and financial reasons why it shouldn't be built. In the next few years the US will have to face many consequences from loosing its geodestiny: US industries (aluminum, fertilizer,transport, etc..) will be restricted by decreased availability of oil and natural gas, as is so evident with the current California crisis. With the coming pinch from the depletion of US energy resources and the decreased availability and increased expense of imported energy, far fewer people are going to be very interested in golf. With the collapse of such luxury markets this land will be of much more value for agriculture. You would not want to be like the Polynesians of Easter Island who cut down all their trees and were left without canoes to fish in. The preservation of Green Valley represents your canoe to a viable economic future.
Sincerely,
Jean Harris
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Eugenie L Harris, PhD
jean.harris@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Research Fellow Vascular Research Group Surgery
Department Phone: +64 3 474-0999 ext. 7474
University of Otago Fax: +64 3 474-7622
PO Box 913 Dunedin, New Zealand
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