Flying J vote not about trucking
The post-Pilot Flying J truck stop vote comments of County Commissioner Robert Anaya as reported in The Santa Fe New Mexican (“Santa Fe truck stop rejected; other development approved,” May 9), signify to me a regrettable misreading of the primary reason most of us are vehemently opposed.
After Anaya’s sole dissenting vote, he stated only that the trucking industry was “painted in a bad light.” As far as I heard and read of public comments, people did not speak against truck drivers, the trucking industry or truck stops, per se. The opposition of the vast majority was firmly and primarily rooted in opposition to the proposed location of the truck stop.
I implore Anaya to consider the fear of the residents, local schools and established businesses who recognized that the proposed location of this truck stop represents an existential threat to their safety, well-being and security. There is a population of about 13,000 students, faculty and staff in Rancho Viejo, not to mention about 1,300 residential homes in Rancho Viejo plus six churches. A truck stop clearly does not belong where it can block one of only two ingress/ egress roads.
Officials from the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Santa Fe Community College and Amy Biehl Community School all expressed their opposition, not to trucks or truckers, but the location of Pilot Flying J’s proposed truck stop, which clearly does not belong where it has been sited. La Entrada, one Rancho Viejo residential development, has a disproportionate amount of affordable housing. Thus, opposition is neither a matter of elitist hostility nor is it a “not in my backyard” attitude. Community members do not object to land owner Warren Thompson’s right to develop and profit from his building ventures.
I respectfully ask Anaya’s understanding as to exactly why we are so grateful for the unanimous vote of the Planning Commission and the 4-1 vote of the Santa Fe County Commissioners, whose responsibility it is to protect us and our fragile environment.