The Utah pioneers were smart folks, and we rightfully celebrate what they accomplished. Of equal significance, however, is what they did not do.

One area they didn't settle would have made for a terrible community. Fruit and shade trees can't grow there due to a high and briny water table. Having a respectable garden or lawn would even be difficult. A town there would have been threatened by occasional flooding. Nearby marshes breed swarms of annoying mosquitoes and deer flies. Foul odors from decaying microbes that often emanate from a nearby lake are especially dense there.

The pioneers didn't know it, but if (when, really) an earthquake strikes, buildings would have little chance of survival due to intense liquefaction in the type of soil that exists there.

Even though the area was close to Salt Lake City, the early settlers wisely used it for the one activity it could productively support — the grazing of animals.

Fast forward 163 years, and pioneer wisdom seems to be in shorter supply. A consortium of owners of the land is about to do what their ancestors were smart enough not to do — develop an area that's unsuitable for a healthy community. I'm referring to the Northwest Quadrant, that 19,000-acre expanse of flat, treeless real estate to the west and southwest of the Salt Lake airport.

Its property owners are trying to do what happens too often in our state: develop land that should be left alone but for the fact that a buck could be made. And the owners have a few friends on the Salt Lake City Council.

Those pushing development overlook the fact that Salt Lake City's growth would better occur elsewhere. "Infill" in existing neighborhoods could absorb most of the population growth of the foreseeable future and revitalize communities. Land that's now vacant could be developed into livable properties more aesthetically and with better access.

Future Northwest Quadrant residents wouldn't have trees in their yards unless they bring in massive amounts of topsoil. They'll have to either swat biting insects or be exposed to pesticides that will have to regularly be sprayed to control them. When the wind blows just right (or wrong) nose plugs might become a necessary outdoor accessory. The noise from the adjacent airport wouldn't be all that pleasant either. These and other factors make the appeal of the area much less desirable than developers are admitting.

Globally significant bird and wildlife sanctuaries occupy the banks of the Great Salt Lake in the Northwest Quadrant. Crowding suburban subdivisions against them would leave nowhere to go for the animals that live there or migrate through during those years when the lake floods. And pesticides to control insects would kill their food, add toxins to the environment and push rare species closer to extinction.

Go to trunity.net/NWQD/ to let the City Council and Mayor Ralph Becker know how you feel about development of the Northwest Quadrant. Ask those who favor it to carefully reconsider. Remind them that Salt Lake City can do better than Los Angeles style, valley wide, wall-to-wall sprawl. And some places just aren't meant to have another suburban community — even a trendy one like the one proposed.

Some of the land in the Northwest Quadrant is held by Suburban Land Reserve and Property Reserve Inc. Both firms are owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you know employees of either company, ask them to re-examine this issue with the same wisdom their pioneers ancestors used.

Jim Catano is with Stop Suburban Sprawl in Salt Lake City.

source:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700028677/Dont-build-in-Northwest-Quadrant.html

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The Utah pioneers were smart folks, and we rightfully celebrate what they accomplished. Of equal significance, however, is what they did not do.

One area they didn't settle would have made for a terrible community. Fruit and shade trees can't grow there due to a high and briny water table. Having a respectable garden or lawn would even be difficult. A town there would have been threatened by occasional flooding. Nearby marshes breed swarms of annoying mosquitoes and deer flies. Foul odors from decaying microbes that often emanate from a nearby lake are especially dense there.

The pioneers didn't know it, but if (when, really) an earthquake strikes, buildings would have little chance of survival due to intense liquefaction in the type of soil that exists there.

Even though the area was close to Salt Lake City, the early settlers wisely used it for the one activity it could productively support — the grazing of animals.

Fast forward 163 years, and pioneer wisdom seems to be in shorter supply. A consortium of owners of the land is about to do what their ancestors were smart enough not to do — develop an area that's unsuitable for a healthy community. I'm referring to the Northwest Quadrant, that 19,000-acre expanse of flat, treeless real estate to the west and southwest of the Salt Lake airport.

Its property owners are trying to do what happens too often in our state: develop land that should be left alone but for the fact that a buck could be made. And the owners have a few friends on the Salt Lake City Council.

Those pushing development overlook the fact that Salt Lake City's growth would better occur elsewhere. "Infill" in existing neighborhoods could absorb most of the population growth of the foreseeable future and revitalize communities. Land that's now vacant could be developed into livable properties more aesthetically and with better access.

Future Northwest Quadrant residents wouldn't have trees in their yards unless they bring in massive amounts of topsoil. They'll have to either swat biting insects or be exposed to pesticides that will have to regularly be sprayed to control them. When the wind blows just right (or wrong) nose plugs might become a necessary outdoor accessory. The noise from the adjacent airport wouldn't be all that pleasant either. These and other factors make the appeal of the area much less desirable than developers are admitting.

Globally significant bird and wildlife sanctuaries occupy the banks of the Great Salt Lake in the Northwest Quadrant. Crowding suburban subdivisions against them would leave nowhere to go for the animals that live there or migrate through during those years when the lake floods. And pesticides to control insects would kill their food, add toxins to the environment and push rare species closer to extinction.

Go to trunity.net/NWQD/ to let the City Council and Mayor Ralph Becker know how you feel about development of the Northwest Quadrant. Ask those who favor it to carefully reconsider. Remind them that Salt Lake City can do better than Los Angeles style, valley wide, wall-to-wall sprawl. And some places just aren't meant to have another suburban community — even a trendy one like the one proposed.

Some of the land in the Northwest Quadrant is held by Suburban Land Reserve and Property Reserve Inc. Both firms are owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you know employees of either company, ask them to re-examine this issue with the same wisdom their pioneers ancestors used.

Jim Catano is with Stop Suburban Sprawl in Salt Lake City.

source:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700028677/Dont-build-in-Northwest-Quadrant.html

Are you absolutely sure you want to delete this article? This process cannot be undone and is permanent.

Yes, Delete This Article

Are you absolutely sure you want to remove this article? This process cannot be undone and is permanent.

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