[Anyone] airport expansion:

[Thos Myers]

Taos Crosswinds Runway

This project has been thrown out to the public before and nothing has
changed since the last attempt to cram this bad idea down our throats.  In
the last Taos News there was a letter from a cry baby whose sister won't
visit because Taos is too remote and she can't fly here - and these are
precisely the people we do not want here. Why?  Because they are not
really interested in Taos, but their own ego gratification and need to
spend a few bucks thrown at the locals with no regard as to what and who
we are.

Marc Coan states:
Heres the REAL reason a vocal minority is opposed to making our airport
safer: they
are opposed to continued population growth in the area. (Now that theyre
here, of
course!) We should all be concerned about the population growth of Taos
County. But
attempts by some to link airport safety to growth concerns will only
distract us from
more meaningful solutions to the growth issue.

I am concerned about Taos growth. It is a cancerous growth with more to
come.  The recent influx of people are not really participating in the
community (save for paying taxes) and have no idea of what this community
is nor any respect for the people who are here.  Yes, I moved here more
than 30 years ago and have watched as the town has been degraded slowly
over the years due to this growth.  Those of us who came here that long
ago wanted to belong and have worked together and with the real locals to
maintain the values: agriculture, small businesses supporting each other,
non-profits to raise the consciousness of the community about what we have
and what we are losing with the developments and condos sprouting up like
cancers.  The newbies dont get that.  They enjoy there second homes and
their maids and servants and grass cutters but have no idea what Taos is
about - and it is about a lot more than art and tourism.

I have seen other tourist communities fall victim to uncontrolled
cancerous growth and development: Cape Cod and eastern Massachusetts,
Florida (both coasts), Denver  and now Taos.  It's never pretty and the
results are always the same: overpopulation. traffic congestion, smog,
crime increases, loss of animal habitat, and general degradation of the
area.

We stopped going to Cape Cad when a one hour drive took four.  We left
Florida when a 45 minute drive became a four hour drive, I left Denver
(1974) when the mountains disappeared into the smog.

In the Cape Cod and Florida situations, both were like Taos: a strip city,
meaning one main road going from one end of town to the other.  The
congestion this causes is not solvable without a major change in the
publics attitude towards its cars and trucks and SUV's and the heinous,
disgusting Hummers - an ecological disaster that should be outlawed. (But
the Hummer drivers ego wont then be assuaged - but then nothing can
satisfy THAT grotesque ego.)

I have flown on the shuttle (when there was one) and it is great.
However, we do not need a crosswinds runway for this service.  Los Alamos
has survived on one runway - so can we.

I had a close friend die attempting to land at the Taos Airport.  A
different approach would not have saved him as he was flying blind in a
bad storm.



We need to consider all the aspects of what we want Taos to become, and
the airport runway is just a tiny piece of the larger issues of growth.

To expand the airport at its current location is, of course, stupid
because in less than 10 years at the current cancerous growth the airport
will need to move to be able to accommodate all the rich white part-timers
who think that Taos is cute.

If local art gallery owners are still under the impression that Taos is
about  the arts must reevaluate what Taos is now about.  The Taos Bible
"Enchanted Homes" is the "new-improved" Taos and the Chamber of Commerce,
the Town and County no longer really support the   arts or galleries, but
are into the greed of high end housing and housing developments and
condominiums.

It is much easier to sell a $350,000 condo than it is to sell 350 $1000
pieces of art. And the government revenues are higher as a result because
they continue to receive revenues from the houses and condos (taxes,
utilities, etc)  Once that $1000 art piece leaves the gallery, no more
revenue can be gotten.


Every day, tourists arrive by plane to enjoy the opportunities Taos
offers.
While here, they spend liberally at businesses which employ thousands of
local residents.
By paying gross receipts and lodgers taxes, they keep residents from
having to pay as much in their own taxes.

Do you have statistics about these tourists?  How many arrive every day,
how long do they stay, how much do they purchase?  The hospitality
business remains at half occupancy for most hotels year round.  The
tourists coming in by air do not seem to alleviate that problem.  Maybe
they all stay at the B&Bs which seem to be always for sale.



While it may be hard to sympathize with those who are lucky enough to own
second homes, its important to remember they pay significant property and
gross receipts taxes that we then dont have to pay.

Again, according to this logic, without these rich people here, the poorer
locals would have to pay extra taxes?  Your logic here doesnt make any
sense. Why would taxes go UP if these people did not come to town?

None of the arguments you state in the My Turn of the Taos News supports a
crosswinds runway or a larger airport.  The airport gets a  lot of use -
no argument there.  The hobbyist pilots you mention who own shares in the
smaller planes wouldnt benefit from a crosswinds runway because they
shouldnt be flying in weather that bad to start with.
One argument that has been left out is that the airport is  located just
west of the dump, Sanitary Land Fill, which has been mentioned as a
possible danger to airplanes due to the large number of sea gulls that fly
around the dump.  A crosswinds runway would bring planes directly over
that hazard.  Good planning, say what.

Supported by the Town of Taos, the Federal Aviation Administration has
proposed building a longer runway at the Taos Regional Airport.

Sort of.  Mayor Bobby tossed in the deciding vote on a 2-2 tie among the
councilors.  I wonder if Mayor Bobby has read the EIS or fully considered
this expansion.  He was here when this same idea was presented in the 80s
and killed for a number of reasons.  None of that has changed.
The developers have gotten to Mayor Bobby and he is sanctioning everything
that they want.  A very sad commentary on how our local government is
being manipulated by special interests.



Without considering that growth, the expansion of the airport at its
current location ill planned, ill advised and very shortsighted.

I vote NO to the crosswinds runway.

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