There's an old Joni Mitchell song with the lyrics "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got til it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." It was an obvious shot at the massive growth of California in the 1950's and 1960's that led to incredible urbal sprawl, fouled air, and all the other urban issues that have had so many flee from sunny California (and other major urban areas) for southwest Idaho.
Many of them have moved to the affluent suburb of Eagle, Idaho.
That's probably why it isn't hard to imagine many Eagle voters were whistling that tune as they drove to the polls Tuesday. Eagle's growth issues pale by comparison with those of Southern California, but when you talk about a single housing development that will double the size of your city in one fell swoop, it is hard to imagine how that will not impact the quality of your life, and not necessarily for the better. Many Eagle voters know what they've got, and they don't want to risk losing it.
The issues in the just held Eagle mayoral runoff election resonate with so many beyond Eagle because it is an issue that is impacting the entire Treasure Valley. Growth, traffic, foothills development, air quality and our environment. People are getting fed up enough to turn their complaints about them into votes against them.
That was certainly the case in Eagle. By any objective analysis, Phil Bandy should have won this election over Saundra McDavid by a landslide. Bandy is an experienced city councilman, McDavid a political newcomer. Bandy has the support of businesses and political leaders in Eagle, McDavid does not. Bandy was considered the logical successor to outgoing Eagle Mayor Nancy Merrill. Many were absolutely stunned when McDavid won the most votes in the general election in November, even though she didn't quite get enough to prevent a runoff.
Now, Bandy has won the runoff election by a mere 150 votes, and will take the reigns of a city that is clearly deeply divided. City council will be divided as well with the addition of two councilmen who ran and won on 'anti-growth' platforms.
The clear issue of demarkation between the two factions are two well publicized planned communities, Avimor and M3, especially M3. Early on, M3 had the potential to dot Eagle's foothills with as many as 13,000 homes. Public pressure has forced it to be scaled back. M3's website now says the development will contain 7100 homes, still making it easily the valley's largest subdivision.
And yet this is happening without a lot of thought to the infrastructure needed to support a community that would essentially be a second Eagle. For instance, there are no plans to build a major highway to it. In fact, Eagle has had a dearth of progress in that area. The Ada County Highway District has spent so little on Eagle, the city at one point threatened to pull out. Once they drive out of the city, Eagle commuters choke State Street and Eagle Road with traffic. Imagine what would happen with another 14000 cars or so.
Then there are the issues of air quality, open space, recreation, and public services like schools, sewers, water and police and fire protection. If M3 goes through as proposed even now, Eagle will undergo dramatic change. I think Bandy and others, including outgoing Mayor Nancy Merrill, may be underestimating just how dramatic that change may be.
Bandy makes the point that he feels public dissent isn't so much about growth as it is about education. He thinks once Eagle residents who oppose him understand what is really happening, they'll support him, and he apparently has no plans to moderate his stance to push what he calls 'managed growth.'
Perhaps ironically, it came during a week when we got a news release saying Eagle may get its first parking garage. That's your cue Joni.
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