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Protecting Mammoth’s special and unique nature doing nothing at all |
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Thursday, 15 May 2008 |
Once again Town officials have dismissed forward-looking solutions out of hand, citing Mammoth’s “special and unique” nature.
Jason Schrieber of Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates talked to the combined Mobility, Planning and Tourism & Recreation commissions about sustainable transportation. He even went so far as to suggest certain incentives could be paid to people who park their vehicles rather than drive them. This could alleviate congestion and reduce wear and tear on the streets and roads.
What the combined commissions failed to grasp was not whether Schrieber’s solution would work, but if not that, what then? They saw a mechanical solution where Schrieber was trying to induce them to consider something outside the box.
What he was alluding is that if the solution to Mammoth’s issues were simple, they would have been solved long ago.
We know the Town has looked at other parking and transportation solutions. When the Peer Resort Tour went to Aspen, Colo., in 2005, they learned of that resort town’s system of parking meters. They also learned that at that program’s inception, Aspen’s citizens went into a rage. These were people who had been parking where they liked for tens of decades and they'd be damned if parking meters would rule their lives. However, the meters stayed, worked and provided a source of revenue for the town.
Imagine.
Further, Mayor Clint Eastwood did the same thing in Carmel, Calif., to relieve congestion in the downtown core. Again, the residents went up in arms. Again the strategy worked. And again, revenue came into the treasury.
Combining parking solutions with a cohesive transit system that reaches where people live can provide a highly workable alternative to driving cars as well as cleaner air and municipal income not tied to development. When the Town backed down many months ago from sending a bus route up Red Fir Road to create a complete loop, it demonstrated its sad inability to make a decision.
The Town’s history of hiring consultants at costs ranging into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then filing their reports away in some forgotten file cabinet, is a woeful example of how we continue to protect Mammoth’s special and unique nature.
Schrieber told the commissioners, “You can’t get anywhere without change.”
It has become apparent, based on their decisions, that Town staff and council are comfortable with the way things are.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Mammoth Times Editorial Board.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 May 2008 )
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