eNewsletter – published September 9, 2016
| Injunction and appeal filed
The following is from the news release PARC sent out on September 6, 2016: Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) et al appealed the recent Arizona District Court’s ruling that would have permitted the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to build the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. At the same time, PARC also filed an injunction to stop ADOT from starting construction of the freeway until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the case. The Gila River Indian Community, also a plaintiff in the case and also harmed by the District Court’s ruling, is expected to file a similar appeal and injunction in the near future. PARC President Pat Lawlis stated, “As I stated previously, the District Court ruling was an unbelievable travesty of law. The laws might as well not exist if the agencies are permitted to use discretion to the point of ignoring the intent of the applicable laws.” It was remarkable that Arizona District Judge, Diane Humetawa, would indicate that ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration should not have to consider health impacts on children in their Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. This ruling is in direct violation of provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act. The Court’s ruling also violated Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act that prohibits the construction of a highway through public parkland unless (1) ADOT could show that there was no feasible and prudent alternative and (2) that it had done all possible planning to minimize harm to the parkland. ADOT was unable to satisfy either of these requirements. In fact, many feasible and prudent alternatives were purposely ignored, and the FHWA decision to approve the project was made before even 15% of the project design was complete – hardly “all possible planning to minimize harm to the parkland!” PARC et al believes that the appeal to the Ninth Circuit will provide a much different result because the law will be properly applied in that Court.
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Mark your calendar for a PARC Party and Public Meeting October 13th
In September, PARC will be 10 years old! On October 13, 2016, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm we will have a PARC Birthday Party and Silent Auction with a Public Meeting at the Four Points by Sheraton, 10831 S 51st St. The Sheraton is the former Grace Inn at Elliot just off the I-10. The birthday party (with cake, of course) and silent auction will start at 6:00, with the public meeting starting at 7:00. There will be a cash bar available. The silent auction will end at 8:00, with results posted shortly thereafter. The meeting will continue until all questions are answered. By the time of the Party and Public Meeting, we should have more specific news about the injunction, the appeal, and the GRIC filings of the same. That should provide for some lively discussions! If you have an item, a basket of items, a gift card, a service, or whatever that you would like to donate to our silent auction, please let us know as soon as possible – no later than October 6th – with a return email to PARCtheSMF@aol.com.
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eNewsletter – published August 21, 2016
| Disappointment not defeat
It appears that Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) was too optimistic in expecting a local judge to side with anyone but the Arizona state government. Stopping the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF) is a David vs. Goliath battle, so why would we expect it to be won so easily? We are disappointed, but we are by no means defeated. PARC’s next step is to file an appeal and an injunction to stop all work on the SMF. These documents will be filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, a much different court in many ways from Arizona District Court in Phoenix. The case was heard in Phoenix by one judge. All indications are that she is very inexperienced in cases involving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Her ruling that permitted the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to continue “preliminary work” on the SMF while the case was pending was highly unusual, and this was our first clue. Unfortunately, the result of that ruling was the demolition of many homes and the destruction of many of our foothills. Then there was the date that the judge set for herself to have the ruling out – July 13, 2016. She missed that by more than a month. Her inexperience in not knowing how long it would take to review the case? A workload that is too heavy? Who knows, but this latest ruling in favor of ADOT makes it crystal clear that the judge does not understand NEPA. While we had hoped that her integrity would override her inexperience, it is now clear that other pressures came into play. NEPA required ADOT to follow a particular process when planning the SMF project. ADOT did not follow the prescribed process. Section 4f of the Transportation Act prohibited ADOT from putting a highway through public parkland unless (1) ADOT could show that there was no feasible and prudent alternative and (2) that it had done all possible planning to minimize harm to the parkland. ADOT was unable to satisfy either of these requirements. Yet, the Court ruled that ADOT was permitted to use extremely wide discretion in planning the SMF and was therefore not violating federal law. The laws might as well not exist if agencies are permitted to use discretion to the point of ignoring the intent of the applicable laws. We always knew that this case would eventually go to the Ninth Circuit, so we are still on track. Of course, we now must be the ones to file the appeal, and we must ask for an injunction to stop SMF work. This legal necessity is annoying but certainly doable. So why are we still upbeat about taking the case to the Ninth Circuit? First, it is in San Francisco, not Phoenix. As much as we would like to think that politics should not influence our courts, it does. Second, a panel of three experienced judges will hear the case in the Ninth Circuit. These judges have dealt with NEPA many times, and they understand the legal precedents that have been set both in the Ninth Circuit and other appeals courts. Third, the Ninth Circuit is known to make environmentally friendly decisions. Last and perhaps most important, the Ninth Circuit decision will be final so we will not have to “play politics” any more and sometime in 2017 or 2018 this fight will finally be over. Of course, the appeals process will require a lot of time-consuming legal work. Many Ahwatukee residents are already stepping up to help fund this final leg of our legal fight. Will you join them with a tax-deductible donation to PARC? Checks may be made out to PARC and sent to PO Box 50455, Phoenix, AZ 85076-0455. Credit card donations may be made from this newsletter or at the PARC website www.protectAZchildren.org. From that website you may also access our Facebook group. Please stay informed and stay positive. Things that are worth fighting for are also worth waiting for. This article (slightly modified) was also submitted to the Ahwatukee Foothills News.
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| PARC party still a go
In September, PARC will be 10 years old! It is clear that it will be closer to 12 years old before this fight with ADOT is over! In spite of the recent lower court ruling, it is time for a Birthday Party and fundraiser! We are now looking at the middle of October and will finalize the date when we get closer. We still need more volunteers to help in planning. Please respond to this newsletter or post on our Facebook page if you are willing to help.
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eNewsletter – published July 25, 2016
| Being patient is difficult
During the legal proceedings regarding our court case, the judge imposed a deadline on herself of July 13, 2016 for having the ruling out. That deadline, however, has come and gone and still no ruling. It is highly unlikely that the delay has anything to do with the judge’s decision. Our courts are busy and delays are common. Recently, a PARC member provided some unverified information that may at least provide some perspective. Below is from what PARC President Pat Lawlis posted to our Facebook page:
Rest assured the ruling will be reported in this newsletter as soon as the ruling is out. |
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| Help PARC plan a party!
In September, PARC will be 10 years old! It is hard to believe we have been fighting this freeway for so long. Of course, it is also hard to believe that the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) first conceived this freeway over 30 years ago, and ADOT is still using that same 30-year old plan. So what if ADOT has received public input throughout the planning process. Clearly, ADOT has not paid any attention to that input! It is time for a party! We expect this to be a Victory Party as well as a Birthday Party! We are looking at the middle of September and will finalize the date when we have the location nailed down. Currently, we need volunteers to help in planning. This will be a party and a fundraiser. Please respond to this newsletter or post on our Facebook page if you are willing to help. |
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eNewsletter – published June 5, 2016
| PARC Public Meeting after ruling is out
The ruling for our court case will be out no later than July 13, 2016. We will have a PARC public meeting shortly after it comes out to discuss the ruling and what it means. We have 2 possible dates in mind, depending on how soon we get the ruling. Save the dates of June 29th and July 20th. |
| What’s Really Happening With the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway
Over 80,000 people live in Ahwatukee. As a result of this proposed freeway, a significant number of these people are losing (and, if the freeway is built, will continue to lose) value in their homes. The freeway would impact the ability of thousands of people in the area to bike, hike, and generally enjoy the views and relative quiet currently enjoyed in the area. Construction and utilization of the freeway would negatively impact our health and the health of our children, family members, and friends. In exchange, we would get a $3 billion “freeway” that ADOT admits would have virtually no impact on rush hour traffic on existing freeways. Why is it then, that only a handful of people – probably less than 1% of the people who live in Ahwatukee – have done anything to fight the Loop 202 freeway? ADOT would have you believe that the freeway is a “done deal.” Many people seem to parrot this suggestion as a justification for not joining the fight. Indeed, many of our neighbors make this assertion with apparent knowing conviction. First of all, fear of losing is not a justification for failing to stand up for what’s right. Secondly, nothing could be further from the truth. Anybody who attended the recent oral arguments in federal court can tell you that the case that our attorney put on in opposition to the freeway was extremely strong. Indeed, it was apparent that, if the Judge properly considers and applies the law in this case, she will stop the freeway in its tracks. We understand that the public gets much of its information from the press and, as a result, ADOT. This is generally no more than biased spin. The fact is that the Judge has taken this case under advisement. She will issue her decision before July 13, 2016. ADOT cannot begin construction of the freeway until after July 13, 2016. If we prevail in the lower court, as we should, ADOT cannot begin construction at all. Even though we strongly believe that the Judge should rule in our favor, if she rules against us, our attorney will have to file a Notice of Appeal and a Motion for an Injunction Pending Appeal right away. If the lower court Judge rules in our favor, it is likely that ADOT/FHWA will appeal to the Ninth Circuit. As you can imagine, this continues to be a massive undertaking. Our attorney, Howard Shanker is one of the best and most experienced attorneys in the Country in this area of the law. His fees/costs in litigating this matter have been far less than fees charged by, for example, the outside law firm that ADOT has hired to be paid for by our tax dollars! Yet he has not been paid since November, 2015. If Mr. Shanker has to petition the court for an injunction pending appeal and pursue this matter in the Ninth Circuit, this case will require even more attorney time and resources going forward. It is simply not fair for the thousands of people who will be impacted by this freeway to sit back while a handful of us do our best to oppose this freeway and fund this litigation. It certainly is not fair to have Mr. Shanker carry the burden of the litigation that could easily be split among the tens of thousands of residents of Ahwatukee who stand to potentially benefit from our case. We don’t understand why only a small number of people (thank you) have contributed to this process that would ultimately protect their homes, health, and lifestyles. Many of you contribute money to good causes. It is unlikely, however, that many of these “good causes” that you help to fund have the same potential for directly impacting your daily life. PARC will gladly accept a tax-deductible contribution in any amount. With this appeal, however, we are asking that you contribute $45 to PARC so that we can continue this fight on your behalf. This is an insignificant amount of money in light of the gravity and nature of the cause and in light of the actual value received. You can click on one of the buttons provided in this newsletter or send a check to PARC, PO Box 50455, Phoenix, AZ 85076-0455. Thank you. Please share this message with as many people as you can. This article was prepared by the PARC Board of Directors. |
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eNewsletter – published May 15, 2016
PARC showed up in force at the courthouse About 35 PARC members arrived at the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 for the demonstration at 9:00 AM. The media were present in force. They were greeted by smiling faces, a chant of “save the mountain, save the kids, say NO to 202” and 20 signs that told the story of the PARC et al lawsuit.
Inside the courthouse, Courtroom 605 held about 80 people. It was half filled by ADOT and half by PARC. The hearing was briefly delayed because about 75 more people were lined up outside the already full courtroom, mostly PARC members. The court opened an adjacent courtroom for the overflow so everyone could be seated and hear the proceedings. The hearing went from 10:00 AM until nearly 4:00 PM. Governor Stephen Lewis and members of the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) were also present (many are PARC members). After court was adjourned, ADOT attorneys left the room with solemn faces. PARC and GRIC attorneys and supporters were all smiling. |
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| ADOT Loop 202 poor planning exposed in court
On Wednesday, May 11, 2016, during the hearing for the lawsuits challenging the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF), the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) was exposed for poor planning in the SMF project. Before the hearing, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) had blustered loudly about how they would get the lawsuits challenging the SMF dismissed. Now, it is clear that the lawsuits brought by Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) et al and the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) have solid grounds. PARC et al and the GRIC have contended in their lawsuits that, among other things, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) produced an environmental analysis for the SMF designed to rationalize a decision that was already made, chose a study area that was too restrictive, failed to consider a reasonable range of alternatives, failed to adequately consider numerous significant negative impacts associated with the project, and provided approval to the project that was arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion. ADOT has tried to spin things to look like they have done an inordinate amount of planning for the SMF and that the lawsuits are merely a nuisance. After all, they claim to have responded to over 8000 comments from the public. Truth be told, however, they merely collected the comments. In all their planning, ADOT largely ignored public input. Even with the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team (CAT) that ADOT put together to make recommendations regarding the SMF, ADOT ignored their recommendations. The CAT met for 12 years and was asked for 2 recommendations. The first was where the western end of the SMF should connect with the I-10. The CAT recommended connecting the SMF to the Loop 101 at the I-10. ADOT ignored this recommendation and announced that the SMF would connect to the I-10 around 55th Avenue, where ADOT had been planning to put it for 30 years. This ADOT decision supported the contention of SMF opponents that regardless of what ADOT claims is the purpose of the SMF, the only real purpose for the freeway is to provide a shortcut for trucks to get to and from the commercial area around 51st Avenue. Howard Shanker, attorney for PARC et al, brought out in court further support for the claim that the sole purpose of the SMF is to be a truck bypass. In spite of ADOT’s claims that the SMF is needed to reduce traffic congestion in the Phoenix area and specifically at the Broadway Curve, Mr. Shanker pointed to a table in ADOT’s own Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which shows that with the SMF in place, a commuter from Ahwatukee would realize a savings of one minute. At the end of the CAT tenure, the second recommendation ADOT asked for from the team representing the public was a simple “build” or “no build.” By a 2 to 1 margin, the CAT recommended “no build.” Again, ADOT ignored this recommendation. Most of the issues surrounding the SMF lawsuits focus on how well ADOT and the FHWA followed the process prescribed in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FHWA is the main defendant in the suits because they approved ADOT’s project. The FHWA and ADOT contentions are that by force-fitting elements of their pre-determined SMF decision into the steps required by NEPA, they have done all that NEPA required. The plaintiffs, of course, do not agree. The lawsuits also claim violations of Section 4f of the Transportation Act, which requires that a highway can only be put through public park land if two conditions are met: 1) there must be no other viable alternative and 2) the agencies proposing the highway must have done all possible planning to mitigate harm to the park land. Although the FHWA and ADOT claim that the Pecos Road alignment for the SMF is the only viable one, PARC et al and the GRIC have shown a number of other viable alternatives that were dismissed out of hand largely because the study area for the SMF project was defined so narrowly that only the Pecos Road alignment would fall inside it. In looking at whether the FHWA and ADOT have done “all possible planning” for the SMF, their “house of cards” was exposed in court by David Rosenbaum, attorney for the GRIC. Mr. Rosenbaum explained that the U.S. government owns 3 wells in South Mountain specifically for the use of the GRIC, and ADOT’s plans show that the SMF would go right on top of them. These wells belong to a sovereign nation and are not subject to being taken by ADOT using eminent domain laws. Evidently, ADOT’s planning was not very thorough at all, considering it did not realize that it could not take these wells until after it had finalized the EIS for the SMF and after the FHWA had approved the current SMF plan. In fact, as Mr. Shanker also exposed in court, ADOT documents show that it had not even completed 15% of the SMF design before it finalized the EIS for the SMF. Even now, ADOT has only completed 15% of the design, hardly “all possible planning.” Judge Diane Humetewa has now taken the arguments presented in court under advisement. Her ruling will likely be rendered in several weeks. The above is a news release sent from PARC to all media in the Phoenix area on May 14, 2016. The media typically prints an ADOT news release in its entirety. It will be interesting to see what the media does with this one, if anything. |
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eNewsletter – published May 4, 2016
| Court demonstration changed to BEFORE the hearing
On advice, we have changed the demonstration in front of the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix to 9:00 am on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. We want to be sure we can give the media a specific time to be there, and we want to capture people as they are anticipating the hearing. After the hearing is over, if there is still energy and an audience, those who wish to stay can demonstrate some more. We will have 18 professionally made signs available for those who wish to carry them during the demonstrations. The hearing for PARC et al and the GRIC’s lawsuit against ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regarding the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 605 of the Courthouse. The hearing is open to the public, and everyone who can attend is encouraged to do so to show support for the people against a corrupt government project. Please do not bring your cell phone. You will not be admitted until after you take the phone back to your car. |
| Club West residents to petition for new vote on PARC funding
We are in the process of developing a petition to the Club West HOA Board asking them to hold a special meeting and ballot to revisit the donation of $25,000 to PARC for 2016. We hope to be able to collect several hundred signatures from Club West residents on this petition. If you want to help, either respond to this newsletter or watch the PARC Facebook group page for a copy of the petition and ideas on how to collect signatures. |
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eNewsletter – published April 23, 2016
| Court date and demonstration
The hearing for PARC et al and the GRIC’s lawsuit against ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regarding the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will be held on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 605 of the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix. The hearing is open to the public, and everyone who can attend is encouraged to do so to show support for the people against a corrupt government project. If you come for the hearing, we hope you will stay for the demonstration. We are planning for a demonstration in front of the courthouse immediately after the hearing. That should be at around 11:00. The media will be advised, and you know they cannot resist a demonstration! We will have more than a dozen signs available for demonstrators to carry. The media will finally get some of the correct facts about this case! |
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SMF quality no concern for ADOT The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) plans to build the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) “on the cheap” – except that they do not mind spending millions of taxpayer dollars to try to protect themselves from the lawsuit filed by Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) et al and the Gila River Indian Reservation (GRIC) to stop this poorly planned atrocity. ADOT hired a California legal firm, Nossaman, to defend ADOT in the lawsuit against the SMF while the Arizona Attorney Generals Office is available to provide counsel on staff at no cost to ADOT. Nossaman fees have already cost taxpayers over $1 Million, and the lawsuit has not even been heard yet! Meanwhile, ADOT hired a contractor, Breinholt, to demolish homes in Goldman Ranch in Ahwatukee. The contract allowed Breinholt to loot the homes before demolition. According to ADOT, Breinholt was not required to recycle valuable materials from the homes. Of course, residents who were forced out were not permitted to take these items. Instead, Breinholt employees were seen hauling off appliances, cupboards, ceiling fans, doors, etc. Then everything remaining went into our landfills. During the Goldman Ranch demolition work and while school was in session, Breinholt caused a gas leak at a home directly across Liberty Lane from the Kyrene de la Estrella Elementary School. The fire department evacuated all remaining homes on the south side of the street because of the danger, yet the school on the north side did not get evacuated! ADOT evidently worked with the media that they have “in their back pocket,” and this story did not even make the news! Once demolition was done, Breinholt left what used to be Goldman Ranch in a shambles. It took contacts with the Ahwatukee Foothills News and Councilman DiCiccio’s office to get ADOT to start cleaning it up. Water is a big issue surrounding the proposed freeway, and ADOT is showing an effort to drill a new well to replace wells that are in the freeway right-of-way. Have you seen the drill rig on the north side of Pecos Road by 24th Street just north of the current well that is in the right-of-way? Geologic surveys and unsuccessful attempts by homeowners associations have shown that water is not likely to be found north of Pecos Road. While it would be great for Ahwatukee golf courses and more if ADOT’s drilling were to be successful, the important thing to ADOT is that they can show they have “tried” to find replacement wells. You can bet they will not spend much money on the search! ADOT has also promised the GRIC that it would have the SMF contractor work around the GRIC wells on South Mountain so the freeway does not destroy the wells and they would still be accessible. Nothing more than “trust me” was in this promise. Just imagine how hard ADOT would work on solving Lakewood’s well issues. ADOT has been blustering recently about how the freeway would be done more quickly and at reduced cost. ADOT’s track record shows that this means they will do the freeway “on the cheap.” For example, they plan to do the SMF “above grade” rather than below ground level. Above ground is not only cheaper, but it would be unsightly and it would make noise abatement almost impossible given the proximity of South Mountain to produce echoes. Have you noticed the fenced off area just off Pecos Road between Desert Foothills Parkway and 24th Street? ADOT will not talk about why this is fenced off and guarded during the day. Yet observation makes it clear that this area contains some large deposits of attractive rocks covered with “desert varnish.” The desert varnish covering takes thousands of years to develop, and it produces valuable landscaping rocks. ADOT evidently does not want to talk about it because they are preserving the rocks – and paying taxpayer dollars for protecting the area – so they can provide these rocks as favors to their preferred landscapers. ADOT has completed 15% of the SMF design, and they plan to leave all remaining design to the SMF contractor. In other words, ADOT is removing itself from responsibility for poor quality work that will result from doing the freeway “on the cheap!” ADOT and quality do not go hand in hand. ADOT takes care of contractors, not residents. PARC needs continuing donations to prepare documentation for our May 11, 2016 hearing in District Court as well as for the appeal to the Ninth Circuit. For your donation, see the PARC website at protecAZchildren.org to donate by credit card, or send a check to PARC, PO Box 50455, Phoenix, AZ 85076-0455. This opinion piece by PARC President Pat Lawlis was published in the Ahwatukee Foothills News on April 20, 2016 with the sentence identified in blue above omitted – the TV stations and the Arizona Republic were the targets of the comment. |
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eNewsletter – published March 15, 2016
| Mark your calendar for our lawsuit hearing
The hearing for PARC et al and the GRIC’s lawsuit against ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regarding the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will be held on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 605 of the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix. The hearing is open to the public, and everyone who can attend is encouraged to do so to show support for the people against a corrupt government project. Be prepared, however, just to listen to attorneys arguing. No witnesses are usually called in a case like this. Each side will argue for “summary judgment.” |
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| The long, drawn out SMF process
The process leading up to the hearing involves a lot of paperwork! The process actually started with meetings (such as the meetings of the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team, or SM CAT) and studies initiated by ADOT. Of course, ADOT never mentions two recommendations that came out of the SM CAT meetings over a period of years. About half way through their set of meetings, the team recommended that the western connection of the SMF should be at the Loop 101 in Tolleson. ADOT summarily rejected this recommendation and instead stayed with their original plan from the 1980s for the SMF to intersect the I-10 at 59th Avenue. At the very end of the SM CAT meetings, ADOT asked for a “build” or “no build” recommendation for the whole project. The team recommended “no build” by about a 2 to 1 margin. ADOT, of course, also summarily rejected this recommendation. Next, ADOT produced a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to which PARC, the GRIC, and more than 8000 others responded. Most of the comments were negative and suggested all sorts of improvements that ADOT needed to make to their process. ADOT mostly just made excuses about why the suggestions were not appropriate or would not work. Then came the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that contained little new except for all the comments on the DEIS, along with all ADOT’s excuses. Once again, PARC, the GRIC, and many others responded about ADOT’s failure to address the concerns that they had voiced in response to the DEIS. The SMF project was then approved by the FHWA in the Record of Decision (ROD), which also contained nothing new. The ROD contained the comments made to the FEIS along with more excuses. Then ADOT’s plans that were not substantially altered after they were made 30 years before were “shoved down the throats” of the citizens of Arizona. The publication of the ROD ended the period where administrative solutions could be found for problems with the SMF. Next came legal solutions. First, PARC et al and the GRIC filed separate complaints against ADOT and the FHWA in Federal District Court. Then the complaints were combined. Next came the preparation of a series of documents to prepare for the court hearing. The defendants (ADOT and FHWA) filed “answers” to the PARC et al and GRIC complaints. Then the defendants were required to produce the Administrative Record (AR) of the case. This AR included everything that was ever officially produced for the SMF, including minutes of all meetings, all reports that had been produced, and the DEIS, FEIS, and ROD documents (which contain all the comments made by the public and the non-responses provided by ADOT). The printed AR contains more than 250,000 pages of text. It provides the basis for all arguments that can now be made in this case. The only other documents that now matter are the applicable laws and any legal precedents that apply. The applicable laws are the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act. Next the plaintiffs (PARC et al and the GRIC) filed Motions for Summary Judgment. These motions contain all the arguments of the case with appropriate references to the information in the AR. Of course, the defendants then got to file their opposition to the plaintiffs’ motions, and then they filed their own Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment. These documents were just filed on March 7, 2016. Still to come, the plaintiffs (that is PARC et al and the GRIC) will file their replies and opposition to the defendants’ Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment. Finally, the defendants will file their reply. All of this will be completed before the hearing on May 11th. Before the hearing, the judge will try to absorb all the pertinent parts of these many documents. ADOT and the FHWA have tried to make this job as difficult as possible by producing so much “stuff” for the judge to examine. At the hearing, the judge will let the parties argue concerning their Motions for Summary Judgment and she will ask questions. That will be it for the hearing. Within a couple of weeks after the hearing, the judge will produce her ruling. We expect this ruling by the end of May. We have every expectation that the ruling from the Federal District Court will be in our favor. If so, a permanent injunction would be issued and ADOT would not be able to do anything else related to the SMF. We expect that ADOT and the FHWA would appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but the injunction would remain in place. Once the lower court ruling is upheld, the ruling would be final and the SMF would be done. Of course, we must consider that the ruling could go against us. The only way that can happen is if the court does not follow the law, but there is always an outside chance that could happen. In that case, we would immediately appeal to the Ninth Circuit and ask for a temporary injunction. The injunction would at that time be granted because ADOT would be ready to start building the SMF. We would then expect the Ninth Circuit to overrule the lower court ruling, issuing a permanent injunction. The Ninth Circuit ruling would be final and the SMF would be done. After ADOT loses in court, the SMF project could potentially be restarted from scratch, but at that point ADOT would have to follow the law. The result would be a transportation solution that would look nothing like the current SMF plan. The new plan would likely not even include a freeway. Instead, it would include improved arterial streets, new and improved forms of public transportation, and new and improved bike lanes and multipurpose paths. The public could really get behind such transportation improvements. The chances that ADOT would go for such a new path, however, are very slim. |
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| Another important date
On Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7:00 pm Lakewood will have a Town Hall Meeting at Kyrene de los Lagos Elementary School multi-purpose room (17001 S. 34th Way). This meeting is intended to create a dialogue in which Lakewood residents can share opinions on the impact of the proposed South Mountain Freeway and what actions the Lakewood Community Association should take. If you live in Lakewood, it is important that you let your voice be heard! PARC Attorney Howard Shanker and PARC President Pat Lawlis will be present to answer questions. |
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South Mountain event and Transportation Day The South Mountain event brought a number of people past our table where they received handouts and discussions from both PARC volunteers and volunteers from the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC). It was a beautiful day, and many were enjoying our mountain. Park Rangers and Park Stewards were available to talk with everyone who used the Telegraph Pass trail. Transportation Day was another rousing success for the God’s Garden Preschool, with over 4000 in attendance. We had a steady stream of people passing our PARC booth, where kids were really taken by our Goliath game. We offered 3 wiffle ping pong balls for $5 for a chance to silence the ADOT Goliath by putting a ball through his lying mouth! The kids loved it, and parents came along and paid attention to our booth. We ended up talking with a lot of people. |
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Club West disappoints At the annual meeting of the Club West HOA, homeowners voted for or against funding for PARC as well as funding for the Festival of Lights. It was extremely disappointing that the FOL funding was overwhelmingly approved while the PARC funding was defeated by 30 votes. There had been a negative campaign to vote against PARC. While it didn’t produce that many negative votes, apathy ruled the day for PARC supporters. We thank all those Club West homeowners who voted for PARC funding. Perhaps next year we can make up for this loss. Meanwhile, we need to step up fundraising in Club West. We need 250 homeowners willing to donate $100 each to make up for our loss of HOA funding! We appreciate those who have already made such a donation. |
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eNewsletter – published February 12, 2016
Transportation Day PARC will participate in Transportation Day again this year. It will occur on Saturday, February 27, 2016 from 9:00am to 1:00pm at the home of God’s Garden Preschool on Liberty Lane (at the Horizon Presbyterian Church). PARC’s version of the ADOT Goliath will be there to entertain. If you did not see Goliath at the Festival of Lights Kickoff Party, you missed some fun! Come and see if YOU can be the David to quiet the ADOT Goliath by throwing a ball through his big mouth! |
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Law vs. ADOT regarding SMF Many people still think that no lawsuit can stop the South Mountain Freeway (SMF). Doubters are not surprising given the political exaggerations and lies Now that the lines for the lawsuit have been drawn and the Administrative Record (everything that can be argued in the lawsuit is in the AR) has been 1. NEPA provides that a decision on the route of a freeway should be made after the completion of an environmental impact study and the issuing of a Record 2. NEPA provides that ADOT must respond to public comments. The AR shows that ADOT received over 8000 public comments on the SMF but was not responsive to 3. NEPA mandates an evaluation of alternatives to accomplish the general goal of an action. Precedent-setting court decisions have stated that alternatives 4. NEPA requires that a “No Action” alternative be considered and compared with any action alternatives. The AR shows that the models used by ADOT to 5. Section 4(f) requires that parkland may not be used for a project unless there is no feasible and prudent alternative. As mentioned in 3 above, ADOT did 6. Section 4(f) requires that even if an alternative does not exist (many do), approval must not be given for a project through parkland unless all These are just some of the more mundane legal issues for PARC’s lawsuit. Space does not permit explanation of all the issues. All of ADOT’s actions are So is PARC exaggerating its expectation of stopping the SMF? While it is always tempting to hype issues, it is not necessary for this lawsuit. Even if PARC needs continuing donations to prepare documentation for our May 11, 2016 hearing in District Court as well as for the appeal to the Ninth Circuit. For This editorial has been submitted to the Ahwatukee Foothills News. PARC continues to expose ADOT’s lies and to protect the public from paying additional tax dollars for ADOT’s $2-4 Billion SMF boondoggle. PARC also continues to need your support – $50 to $100 per household is a wise investment. Please donate at protectAZchildren.org. This editorial has been submitted to the Ahwatukee Foothills News. |
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eNewsletter – published January 13, 2016
| Save the dates
PARC will be co-sponsoring a “We Love South Mountain” event in conjunction with the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC) on Saturday, February 20, 2016. This event will encourage participation from hikers, walkers, runners, and cyclists. We will meet at the Kyrene Altadena Middle School parking lot on Desert Foothills Parkway and make our way from there to the Telegraph Pass trailhead. Participants will choose their own form and length of exercise. PARC and PMPC will have tables at the trailhead to provide information to educate and update the community about the detrimental effects ADOT’s South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will have on South Mountain’s recreational value. Donations will also be collected. More information will be forthcoming. PARC will also once again participate in Transportation Day. It will occur on Saturday, February 27, 2016 at the home of God’s Garden Preschool on Liberty Lane. PARC’s version of the ADOT Goliath will be there to entertain. If you did not see Goliath at the Festival of Lights Kickoff Party, you missed some fun! Come and see if you can be the David to quiet the ADOT Goliath by throwing a ball through his big mouth! Again, more information will be forthcoming. |
| Where’s the hype?
In this culture of bluster, insults, and fast-paced violence, the media uses hype to get attention. The media loves to follow the Arizona Department of Bluster and fear may make for good entertainment, but they are not credible. More than anything else, they mark bullies who are trying to draw attention How can I make such a bold statement when ADOT continues to demolish homes? The fact that the judge would not stop ADOT demolitions for the SMF is an The preparation for the hearing has generated a few small bits of drama. ADOT has wasted more taxpayer money by hiring an outside law firm from California, Recently, PARC attorney Howard Shanker noticed a document missing from the Administrative Record and requested that it be provided. Nossaman denied the This type of suit depends on:
All that remains is to wait for the hearing and the lower court’s decision. From there the case will undoubtedly be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of This editorial has been submitted to the Ahwatukee Foothills News. |
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eNewsletter – published November 10, 2015
| Most lawsuit work behind the scenes
Most of the recent work on the PARC et al v FHWA and ADOT lawsuit has been behind the scenes. You may have noticed a couple of significant events. Because the defendants asked for more time to produce the administrative record, the Court revised the schedule for remaining lawsuit events. That schedule is now as follows:
As a part of the defendants’ request for more time, ADOT agreed that freeway construction would not commence prior to July 13, 2016. This represents a delay of approximately 2 months from ADOT’s original statement that they wanted to start construction mid-May. Councilman Sal DiCiccio and State Representative Jill Norgaard released a joint statement about the delay saying “Judges Delay in South Mountain Freeway Construction Shows Project is Wrong for Pecos Road.” Kudos to them for spreading the word! |
| Please be generous with end of year giving
We do not anticipate publishing another newsletter before next year, so this is a good opportunity for PARC to say “thank you” for your previous generosity and request your consideration for end of year giving. Remember that PARC is a 501(c)(3) organization so all donations are tax deductible. Donations work toward:
We have much to look forward to next year. Meanwhile, may you have a wonderful holiday season, no matter how you celebrate it! Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! |
| ADOT worried — wastes time and money
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) loves to be boastful — just like any bully who wants to scare people away so they will not look too closely at what the bully is really up to. As you probably know by now, Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) has not been frightened by ADOT and all its wealthy, influential benefactors. We are looking closely at what ADOT has been doing with respect to the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF) project, and the public needs to be aware of what we have found. ADOT has the attorneys of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office at its disposal (without fee), and the Attorney General’s Office is the largest law office in the state. Yet ADOT has found it necessary to hire an outside law firm from California, Nossaman LLP to defend it against a small grass-roots organization like PARC in our lawsuit against the SMF. So no matter how loud the bully gets and how many homes it demolishes, you can be sure ADOT is very worried about the lawsuit. From records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, PARC has found that ADOT has paid Nossaman $1,082,553.40 of our tax dollars from June 2014 when they were apparently hired through July 2015. Much of this expense to the attorneys was to research PARC (yes, the invoices say that)! The lawsuit was just filed in May 2015, so expect much heavier expenditures now that the lawsuit is underway. Are you sick to your stomach yet? Wait, there’s more! When we got the records of Nossaman’s invoices to ADOT, we found that ADOT turned over the entire public records “database” on the SMF project to Nossaman, an attorney’s office. The reason became clear when we asked for a copy of the public records database and we were told that it was “attorney-client privileged!” Interesting tactic, but it will do ADOT no good. While there undoubtedly are some documents that are truly privileged communications between Nossaman and ADOT, the public records are not privileged, and no amount of “laundering” them through an attorney will change that. So what are they trying to hide? In a Court document dated August 26, 2015, defendants in the SMF lawsuit, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), were ordered to produce the administrative record of the case on or before October 26, 2015. This record contains the proceedings of every meeting along with every document that has been officially produced for the SMF project. ADOT and the FHWA claim this record will be about 250,000 pages long, so the Court and PARC have agreed that it only needs to be produced on electronic media. If you know anything about electronic files, you know that they can be copied easily to other electronic media very quickly — even if the documents are large. The one complication in this case is that some of the culturally sensitive information concerning the location of cultural sites sacred to the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) must be redacted from the record before public distribution. This requires doing an electronic search of the documents for certain keywords, and then making appropriate modifications to those documents where the keywords are found. I would give ADOT and the FHWA about a week to accomplish all of that — just to be generous and allow for bureaucratic inefficiency. Yet the defendants filed a request to get the deadline extended three more weeks to November 16, 2015. Are they that incompetent or are they attempting to extend the case as long as possible? The hearing date has now been extended to May 12, 2016, and ADOT has agreed that freeway construction would not start before July 13, 2016. So how long will it be before the media and the public recognize that ADOT is lying. Among other things, they are lying about the purpose of the SMF and what it would accomplish. The SMF would not improve traffic congestion at all. PARC’s experts have proven that using ADOT’s own data. The SMF would, however, become a major truck bypass, with at least 30,000 trucks per day traveling through Ahwatukee! With the prevailing winds coming in from the south and South Mountain providing a barrier, what do you think that would do to our air quality? Think Los Angeles! PARC continues to expose ADOT’s lies and to protect the public from paying additional tax dollars for ADOT’s $2-4 Billion SMF boondoggle. PARC also continues to need your support – $50 to $100 per household is a wise investment. Please donate at protectAZchildren.org. This editorial has been submitted to the Ahwatukee Foothills News. |
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eNewsletter – published September 18, 2015
PARC Public Meeting
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Save the date! |
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ADOT endangered Estrella Elementary School while children attended class! On September 11, ADOT demolition contractor Breinholt Construction caused a natural gas leak during home demolition near 26th Street and Redwood Lane. This location is just across Liberty Lane from Kyrene de la Estrella Elementary School, and the leak occurred while school was in session. One spark and the entire neighborhood, along with the school and all occupants, could have been blown up! The Phoenix Fire Department responded to the scene and quickly evacuated nearby neighbors. There was no way, however, to evacuate Estrella School quickly enough if a spark had ignited the gas. Fortunately, the gas was dispersed and a spark did not occur – this time. Many more homes are slated for demolition, however, and ADOT has taken no responsibility for the carelessness of its contractor. Instead, ADOT created a letter, distributed to parents by officials at Estrella, downplaying the seriousness of the incident. This is a perfect illustration of the regard ADOT has for our community! |
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eNewsletter – published August 25, 2015
Victims or proactive citizens? Did you see the story about the 3 Americans who brought down a would-be terrorist on a French train last Friday, saving numerous lives? These men could have done nothing and become victims. Instead they were proactive, risking their lives to stop the terrorist. I’m not suggesting that bringing down the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will be quite so heroic. Preventing a would-be freeway disaster, however, will undoubtedly save our community and our city from becoming a smog haven much like Los Angeles. In the process, we will also save many lives that would be taken from the effects of the air pollution, and we will also save the quality of life of Ahwatukee, the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), South Mountain Park Preserve, and ultimately the entire Valley of the Sun. We will not be victims. We are proactive citizens! We will not be victims of ADOT’s scandalous behavior! We are proactive citizens who will stand up to ADOT and stop their ill-conceived freeway atrocity that violates both the letter and the intent of the federal law governing freeway planning. The destruction of homes is an unfortunate result of a court decision that we did not like. Because of the court ruling, most of the homes in Goldman Ranch have been vacated. Some homes in areas in the far western section of Ahwatukee also have been vacated. These homes will be torn down, but we can ensure that these ADOT actions do not ruin the rest of Ahwatukee. Supposedly, ADOT is going to start tearing down those vacant homes this week. The thought of it makes us sad for all the families who have lost those homes. The thought that ADOT is once again showing off as bullies and starting to destroy part of Ahwatukee makes us angry, and we start to fear for what Ahwatukee would look like if ADOT got its way and put that freeway through. We are also angry, however, because we know in our hearts that ADOT will not gets its way and that the freeway will never happen. So ADOT is making their property holdings worth far less by destroying the homes on those lots. When ADOT is forced to sell those properties again, they will have to take a huge loss, and that makes us angry as taxpayers. We are all sad about this situation, and we cannot change it at least for the time being. We are still too far away from the time when ADOT will actually start construction. We must not, however, take on a defeatist attitude. Given the current situation, with all the homes now vacant, look at the positive side. ADOT is doing our community a favor by not leaving vacant homes around to attract homeless squatters and street crime! Think about what would become of those neighborhoods if those homes were to stand there vacant for several years! Remember that it will take a good while to settle this court case once and for all. ADOT will not be forced to sell those properties until after the case is finally settled in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. That will probably be at least 2018. So we must channel our disappointment and our anger into positive steps. We need to work with the Phoenix Police to patrol the areas that are being turned into gravel lots. Even vacant lots can attract vagrants and druggies if we are not vigilant. Not only do we need to report crime that we witness in our neighborhoods, but we also need to develop active neighborhood Block Watch groups to protect our neighborhoods. Block Watch groups work. When neighbors are looking out for neighbors and neighborhoods and immediately reporting suspicious activity to the police, criminals are chased to other areas where they do not get noticed and harassed. If your neighborhood has a Block Watch, find out who your leader is and become an active part of the Block Watch. Work together with your neighbors to actively walk your neighborhood streets regularly. If your neighborhood does not have a Block Watch, start one. Contact Officer Deb Iodice, the City of Phoenix Block Watch Coordinator at 602.495.0597. She will work with you and connect you with officers in Ahwatukee. You can also check out the website at www.phxblockwatch.org. Another proactive step you can take is to contact your local, state, and federal representatives about ADOT’s irresponsible behavior in dragging out the planning for this albatross of a freeway for 30 years, forcing the citizens to take ADOT to court while ADOT continues to eat up our tax dollars for nothing. All this money will go “down the drain” when ADOT loses in court – as they must because they have violated both the letter and the intent of several federal laws in their faked planning process. ADOT has been irresponsibly spending millions of taxpayer dollars for (1) preparing a voluminous environmental impact study meant to mask the reality that they are going through the motions and mis-using the National Environmental Policy Act process to try to justify an outdated 30-year old decision, (2) purchasing property during the past 30 years only along the route they chose 30 years ago – clearly they had no intention of ever considering any other route, (3) hiring an outside law firm from California to defend them in court and paying attorneys $635 per hour when the AZ Attorney General’s Office has attorneys on staff who are also being used on the case – a clear indication that ADOT knows their actions are indefensible, and (4) tearing down real estate that will result in a huge net loss for the taxpayers again when that property must be resold. Of course, one more positive step you can take is to donate to the PARC David v. Goliath Victory Fund! Use the buttons in this newsletter to donate by credit card or use the address at the bottom to send a check. Rest assured, PARC will not squander your donations the way ADOT likes to squander our tax dollars! Do not be a victim! Be a proactive part of the solution. Save Ahwatukee, the GRIC, South Mountain, and the Valley of the Sun from the SMF disaster! |
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| New unexpected support from the West Side
“The Research and Advocacy Committee of the West Side Town Hall Program (WSTHP) has reviewed the pros and cons for the South Mountain Freeway, and now takes a position supporting the Opponents. “The Reasons: 1. A better Phoenix bypass would be in the SR 85 Corridor (Buckeye to Gila Bend) because it ultimately would be the bypass used to connect with the I-11 (Phoenix-Las Vegas) bypass around Wickenburg. This way only one bypass would have to be constructed to serve two purposes—Phoenix bypass & I-11 bypass. 2. The Warehouse District in West Phoenix would continue to be served by Rail, as well as by I-10 and a ADOT proposed I-10 Reliever Route from 59th Ave. to SR 85 Corridor south of I-10. 3. A proposed Economic Development Site at 59th Ave. & I-10 still could be developed given the I-10 Reliever Route and a WSTHP proposed Parkway in the 59th Ave. Corridor from I-10 to Baseline Rd. 4. The proposed Parkway would provide better access to Laveen and would improve access for Laveen residents to the 59th Ave. Economic Development Site, Downtown Phoenix and the proposed 99th Ave. Economic Development Site at I-10 via the I-10 Reliever Route. Thus traffic to and from Laveen would be dispersed rather than concentrated, avoiding an already-overburdened I-10 between 79th Ave. and Downtown Phoenix. 5. Traffic congestion on I-10 from Ahwatukee to Downtown Phoenix could be reduced by a WSTHP proposed Ahwatukee-Chandler Economic Development Site on an abandoned golf course in Ahwatukee. This also would eliminate the need to provide an alternate route between Ahwatukee-Chandler and Downtown Phoenix. 6. The WSTHP’s Research & Advocacy Committee also supports the Gila River Tribal Council and the coalition tribal members who have pointed out that South Mountain has been Sacred for the Tribe for centuries and that the South Mountain Freeway would result in a major barrier between Tribal lands and the numerous sacred sites on South Mountain. 7. The WSTHP’s Committee also supports the Tribe and its tribal members in opposing cutting off 31 acres of South Mountain at the west end to accommodate the South Mountain Freeway. Sacred sites are located within the 31 acres. 8. The WSTHP’s Committee also thinks the municipalities in Maricopa and Pinal Counties should show they want to genuinely be Good Neighbors to the Gila River Tribe by not increasing traffic and pollution near the Tribe’s lands. The Gila River Tribe’s long-term goal is to return to full-time sustainability as a farming community. The South Mountain Freeway would send more development, traffic and pollution past the Gila River Tribe on I-10 between Ahwatukee-Chandler and Casa Grande. 9. The WSTHP proposed I-10/I-11 bypass in the SR 85/I-8 Corridor would take traffic and pollution south of the Gila River Tribe’s lands by linking at the I-10/I-8 interchange. 10. A further Good Neighbor gesture would be to limit development on state trust lands east of Casa Grande, contrary to the development proposal in the Sun Corridor Report published by the ASU Morrison Institute in 2014. ” The above words come directly from a document produced by the WSTHP. This group has a very different perspective on the freeway than those of us who live in Ahwatukee, but they have come to the same conclusions as we have – the SMF is a bad deal for the citizens of the Valley of the Sun. The WSTHP has made their position known to all local and state politicians as well as other community members. Slowly but surely, residents of other parts of the Valley are beginning to realize that the SMF is a boondoggle! |
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| As Ahwatukee goes, so goes its quality of life by Dr. Pat Lawlis, President of PARC  This is the eighth and last in a series on areas of concerns with the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF). Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) believes the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and ADOT are complicit in:
Most residents of Ahwatukee are passionate about the quality of life they have just because they live in this community. In preparation for writing the final installment of this series, I asked many Ahwatukee residents what quality of their lives they believe the SMF would ruin. The responses I received tell the story:
With the SMF, as Ahwatukee would be degraded, so also would the residents’ quality of life. This series of 8 editorials has been printed in the Ahwatukee Foothills News with the exception of this last installment, which has been submitted and should be printed in an upcoming issue. I would like to thank all of you who contributed to this last article by responding to my request for how the SMF would ruin your quality of life in Ahwatukee. Finally, I encourage you to donate to PARC as much as you can (plus one dollar more showing your personal sacrifice) to put PARC’s legal team in a position to fight this fierce and necessary legal battle against ADOT robots who care nothing for the harm they would do to our children and others who currently live in a healthy environment! |
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eNewsletter – published August 12, 2015
Preliminary Injunction concerns What you have been reading and seeing on TV regarding the Preliminary Injunction was misleading. The Court ruled that PARC was unable to demonstrate that ADOT’s current preparatory work for the freeway would cause irreparable harm. In other words, those who are being forced out of their homes are being compensated for it, so it is not considered to be irreparable harm. The judge fully recognizes that once the freeway construction (or destruction) would start, irreparable harm would be done. ADOT has assured the court that construction would not start until at least the middle of May of 2016, so the irreparable harm would not be immediate. Hence, the preliminary injunction to stop all preparatory work that ADOT is doing was denied. The good thing that came from the injunction hearing is that all parties involved have agreed to accelerate the case so that it will be settled on its merits before next May. It’s important to note 2 things:
PARC is looking forward to the hearing on the merits of our case, and the court is already starting some of the background work on that. A date has not yet been set, however, for arguments to begin.
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| Why we expect to win
Let’s look at the lawsuit itself and explore why we expect to win it. The PARC et al lawsuit lists 20 Counts against the Federal Highway Administration and ADOT. We only need to prevail on one count to stop the SMF, but we expect to prevail on most if not all the Counts: 1. The FEIS justified a decision already made outside of the context of the NEPA process 2. The possible location of the freeway was limited to a “study area” that was designated outside of the NEPA process 3. The “purpose and need” statement for the project was impermissibly restrictive 4. Defendants failed to consider an adequate range of alternatives 5. Defendants’ consideration of the “no action” alternative was legally deficient 6. Defendants failed to adequately consider “avoidance alternatives” 7. Defendants failed to undertake “all possible planning to minimize harm” 8. Defendants failed to adequately consider the “constructive use” of 4(f) resources 9. Defendants failed to adequately consider the freeway’s impact on children’s health 10. Defendants failed to adequately consider the impacts of Mobile Source Air Toxics (MSATs) 11. Defendants failed to adequately consider the impacts of truck traffic 12. Defendants failed to adequately consider impacts associated with the transport of hazardous materials 13. Defendants failed to adequately consider impacts of the arterial street system and local traffic patterns near the proposed interchanges along the freeway 14. Defendants failed to adequately consider mitigation measures 15. Defendants failed/refused to adequately consider mitigation measures for “cumulative” and “secondary” impacts 16. Defendants failed to adequately consider mitigation measures for wildlife corridors/connectivity 17. Defendants failed to adequately consider impacts of air emissions from the freeway and “conformity” with the requirements of the Clean Air Act 18. Defendants failed to adequately respond to comments 19. Defendants failed to adequately consider impacts associated with the potential loss of wells in the right-of-way 20. Defendants failed to adequately consider cumulative, direct and indirect impacts The GRIC lawsuit that has now been consolidated with the PARC et al lawsuit lists similar allegations, but they have been organized into 3 Counts: 1. Violation of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 2. Violation of Section 4(f) of Department of Transportation Act 3. Injunctive relief These are solid legal cases with a plethora of documenting evidence. The defendants are clearly violating the laws in multiple ways, and there are numerous legal precedents to back that up. |
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| Litigation update
Attorneys for all sides are currently working toward a briefing schedule. The Justice Department has yet to produce the approximately 250,000 page administrative record that would be used in the case. We anticipate that the record should be produced in the near future. Once we receive and review the record, the case should move forward relatively quickly. We anticipate that the FHWA and ADOT will be filing various motions to dismiss – which should be denied by the Court – but which will require briefing and argument. The case should ultimately be decided on cross-motions for summary judgment. We also anticipate that the District Court decision will be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – regardless of which side prevails. Howard M. Shanker |
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Successful PARC fundraiser at Loco Patron The David v. Goliath Fundraiser at Loco Patron was a good time for all involved – and PARC raised some funds besides! It was impossible to get an accurate count of the number in attendance, but it was easy to tell that it was more than 120. Thanks to Robin Salthouse for organizing the event, to Loco Patron for hosting it, to all who donated items for the auction, and to all who were there. You made it a rousing success! An accounting of the funds raised is as follows:
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| South Mountain more than just a pretty face
This is the seventh in a series on seven areas of concerns with the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF). Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children’s (PARC’s) chances of winning in court are extremely good because the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) did a poor job studying the impacts of the SMF. For example, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and ADOT are complicit in:
In previous installments, I discussed the first five specific areas of concern with the SMF. This discussion will be about the sixth topic – desecration of South Mountain. South Mountain is significant to people of the Valley of the Sun in different ways. In Ahwatukee, we live in the foothills of the mountain. South Mountain is the majestic barrier that separates us from downtown, putting our community into more of a suburban setting than an urban one. Ahwatukee is the “world’s largest cul de sac” nestled between the boundaries formed by the 17 mile long mountain and the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC). Most Ahwatukee residents appreciate and enjoy the peace and quiet this status affords. Many moved here especially for this unique atmosphere of the community. For most residents of the Valley of the Sun, the South Mountain Park Preserve (SMPP) is revered. Since the SMPP is the country’s largest wilderness municipal park, it provides many recreational opportunities that are unavailable in a typical urban setting. Within the City of Phoenix, the SMPP sports 51 miles of primary trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Residents have also voted overwhelmingly to preserve the mountains in the valley, including South Mountain. “Preserving” means specifically not allowing homes or roads to be built in, across, or through the mountain. Perhaps not so obvious but just as important, South Mountain sustains both plant and animal life unique to an urban setting. The mountain is home to over 300 species of plants and more than 150 animal species. The delicate balance of life on the mountain would be upset by the SMF. The introduction of a highway would introduce new invasive species and block the normal migration paths of both plants and animals. The SMF would disturb the tranquility of nature so enjoyed by visitors to the SMPP, as well as degrading desert ecosystems. In addition to the importance of South Mountain to residents of Ahwatukee and other parts of the Valley, its importance to members of the GRIC and other Arizona tribes cannot be overstated. For those of us who are not part of a Native American culture, it is hard to put this importance into perspective. Land has great significant to Native Americans. The closest non-Native Americans can come to understanding this point of view is to recognize that South Mountain and many particular locations and artifacts therein have very strong religious significance to many of our Native American friends. In fact, members of the GRIC feel so strongly about preserving South Mountain as well as their way of life that they have filed their own lawsuit against the FHWA and ADOT to stop the currently approved SMF. Whatever your reasons for wanting to preserve South Mountain, including three of its ridges that would be forever lost because of the SMF, let us work together to save our beloved mountain! My next and last installment in this series will discuss the quality of life in Ahwatukee and on the GRIC that would be threatened by the SMF. |
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eNewsletter – published July 15, 2015
Litigation update The case is still proceeding as outlined in my previous updates. The case in chief is moving forward. Also the pending Motion for Preliminary Injunction is currently set for oral argument on July 22, 2015. On June 29, 2015, we filed our Reply Brief in Support of our Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. As part of that Reply, we included a declaration that supported our assertion – that without an injunction in place, “irreparable harm” would occur before the Court could decide the merits of the case. On July 6, 2015, we filed a Supplemental Notice of Authority which included, in part, a supplemental declaration that also supported our claim of imminent irreparable harm. On July 8, 2015, ADOT’s lawyers filed an objection to these declarations and asked the court to either strike the declarations or to allow ADOT to file a sur-reply. We filed our Response to ADOT’s motion today, July 13, 2015. As many of you may have heard, on or about June 30, 2015, the Gila River Indian Community (“GRIC”) filed a Complaint against the Federal Highway Administration and ADOT, that largely mirrored the Complaint that we had filed earlier. GRIC also filed a Motion to Consolidate the cases, which makes sense under the circumstances. On July 8, 2015 Judge Humetewa issued a Minute Entry indicating that she knew two of the lawyers associated with the GRIC case. As a result, she gave the parties an opportunity to raise any objections to her continued involvement in a consolidated case. On July 13, 2015 the Federal Highway Administration (by its lawyers in the Justice Department) indicated that they had no objection to Judge Humetewa staying on the case. On this same day, ADOT’s lawyers filed objections to Judge Humetewa continued participation. Our position was that Judge Humetewa was eminently qualified to hear this case and that she would not have been influenced by any apparent knowledge of the GRIC’s lawyers. We currently do not know how this process will impact the pending motion for preliminary injunction, if at all. If a new Judge is assigned to the case (and the Motion for consolidation is granted), it will be done randomly. We have no say in, or control over, how that process works. I’ll do my best to continue to keep you posted as this process unfolds. Thank you. Howard M. Shanker Attorney for PARC et al
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PARC fundraiser August 10th at Loco Patron Mark your calendar! PARC will have a fundraising event sponsored by a local supporting business, Loco Patron: Where: Loco Patron, 1327 E. Chandler Blvd in Ahwatukee When: Monday, August 10, 2015 from 5:00 – 9:00pm What: Loco Patron will donate 20% of your check to PARC David v. Goliath Fund Extras: Gift baskets/items will be raffled off; 50/50 raffle This get-together will be informal. Come and support a local business that supports PARC! Come at any time during the 4-hour period, eat, drink, and get in on the raffles. Winners need not be present when the raffle winners are announced at 9:00pm. |
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| Are you angry yet?
PARC is truly in a David v. Goliath-type battle against ADOT. ADOT is using all their many resources – which ultimately come from us, the taxpayers – to defend and justify their decision to build the proposed South Mountain Freeway (SMF).
So are you angry yet? Are you ready to start/continue your financial support for PARC’s lawsuit against ADOT? David defeated Goliath, and PARC will defeat ADOT – with your continued support. We are not asking for the Millions of dollars ADOT is paying their legal team. Rather, we are looking for just enough to sustain our lawsuit: $10, $20, $50, $100 – whatever you can spare. Isn’t it time to donate?! |
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Trucks carrying hazardous materials are a real concern for Ahwatukee This is the sixth in a series of discussions on seven areas of concerns with the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF). This series is also being published in the Ahwatukee Foothills News – in their own time. To begin the series, I discussed the fact that Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children’s (PARC’s) chances of winning in court are extremely good because the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) did a poor job studying the impacts of the SMF. For example, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are complicit in:
In previous installments, I discussed the first four specific areas of concern with the SMF. This discussion will be about the fifth topic – danger from hazardous materials. Tanker trucks carrying hazardous materials (hazmats) are common on the nation’s freeways. Restrictions, however, do not permit hazmats on some freeways. Why not? Why does this matter for Ahwatukee? Although hazmat accidents do not occur frequently, when they do occur they can be deadly. Hazmats are not permitted to travel through freeway tunnels, such as the Deck Park Tunnel on I-10 in downtown Phoenix, because a hazmat spill in a tunnel would not permit the deadly fumes to dissipate. Consider the SMF, on which 15,000 to 30,000 trucks per day, with hazmats numbering in the hundreds, would travel along what is now Pecos Road, just to the south of Ahwatukee. Hazmat accidents would not be expected to occur frequently, but sooner or later one or more would occur. What would we expect the outcome to be? Today, Ahwatukee has essentially no danger of a hazmat spill. Occasionally a gasoline tanker services one of the Ahwatukee gas stations, but these tankers travel through Ahwatukee on surface streets, not a high-speed freeway. The SMF would create a new situation altogether where a hazmat spill could put hundreds or even thousands of residents in grave danger. Unlike the spill that occurred in 2011 on the I-10 near Chandler Blvd., where the air moves freely and toxic fumes can be dispersed rather quickly, the prevailing southerly winds would bring the fumes from a toxic spill on the SMF right into the “world’s largest cul de sac” of Ahwatukee. While Ahwatukee residents near the I-10 were evacuated to the west for a few hours as the fumes from the 2011 hazmat spill on the I-10 dissipated, many Ahwatukee residents would have nowhere to go to evacuate from a hazmat spill on the SMF. By the time they were notified of the situation, the fumes would already be spreading through the only streets available for evacuation. Driving through a toxic cloud is foolhardy, so going inside a building and closing doors and windows to shelter in place might be the best defense against the toxicity. Yet chlorine, one of the chemicals that would be transported on the SMF, is particularly deadly and can penetrate any building that is not sealed completely airtight, causing injuries and even death. Alternatives? ADOT has not only failed to look at possible alternatives and plan for a hazmat spill situation in Ahwatukee, their Environmental Impact Statements have failed to mention that such a possibility even exists! In my view, this is criminal neglect. Our attorney general should be considering criminal prosecution of the ADOT officials responsible for this egregious omission. Instead, our state government is complicit in trying to push through this dangerous freeway. The state has hired Nossaman, a private national law firm out of their California office, to represent ADOT in the SMF lawsuit, rather than using attorneys already on the state payroll. Just another outrageous waste of our tax dollars! Now is the time to support our lawsuit against the FHWA and ADOT. Continuing support is essential as our suit works its way through the courts. The GRIC is paying for their suit, but PARC will finance its own suit – with your help! The next installment will discuss the potential desecration of South Mountain. |
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eNewsletter – published June 10, 2015
| Lawsuit filed – ADOT is nervousOn the outside we are seeing ADOT acting like a bully. They are pushing people out of their homes as quickly as possible, sometimes without even giving the resident a chance to arrange to haul large items away. Yet they direct the news media to the residents who are happy that they are getting relocation money.Bullies are insecure, and they do not want the public to see what they are doing. ADOT is no different than any other bully. They have hired Nossaman, a private national law firm out of their California office to represent them. Just imagine how many more of our taxpayer dollars they are wasting on that!
ADOT is now in the process of trying to rewrite the history of how they got to their decision on the current proposed route for the South Mountain Freeway (SMF). They are having “rallies” to try to convince everyone who will listen that they have followed the right process in getting to the Record of Decision (ROD) to build the SMF. They tell a tale of how they engaged the public and stakeholders – a true tale of revisionism. They say they worked diligently to move the project onto the GRIC and avoid the Section 4(f) (Transportation Act) impacts of going through South Mountain. From 2002-2012 they claim to have had many GRIC/ADOT meetings. What an insult to our friends on the GRIC for ADOT to claim they worked closely with the GRIC for 11 years and worked hard to avoid impacting South Mountain. The truth that is known to anyone who has been following this project over the years is that ADOT did not want to work with the GRIC, but the Governor forced them to the table in 2009. Even then, talks were not meaningful, as the “study area” did not include any alignment other than Pecos Road. Now the GRIC has decided not to permit the SMF on their land, and ADOT embraces that as a mandate to build on Pecos Road. As for following the right process according to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), ADOT has worked to make it look like they are following the law when, in fact, they are just trying to justify a decision they made 30 years ago. NEPA actually does not permit ADOT to make any decision on location or even type of solution (freeway, public transportation, other) until after they have completed the environmental impact studies. Those were completed in March 2015 with the issuing of the ROD! Yet a 30-year-old decision is supposed to be “according to the NEPA process.” So why is ADOT going to the effort to spin this tale? Fear! They are very well aware of the bases of the lawsuit filed against them. The lawsuit is solid, ADOT’s claims are anything but. So ADOT is starting a subtle campaign against the claims of the lawsuit. Although public opinion and money should not matter, ADOT is throwing everything they have into the mix because they are afraid. They should be afraid! The laws are unquestionably on the side of PARC et al in this lawsuit! |
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Latest update from our attorney PARC is pleased to have Howard Shanker as our attorney. Although things tend to move slowly in the courts, Howard will try to provide us with a weekly update on what is going on, and we will be posting that to the PARC Facebook group. (www.facebook.com/groups/PARC.AZ/) Below is the first such update:
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| Questions? Visit us on Facebook |
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eNewsletter – published May 17, 2015
Lawsuit to be filed Tuesday! Tuesday, May 19, 2015 will be a historic day for Ahwatukee! The challenge to the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will be official! A lawsuit will be filed in Federal District Court in Phoenix against the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) by the following coalition representing approximately 50,000 Arizonans:
The groups are also asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent ADOT from undertaking any further work on the SMF pending the outcome of the lawsuit. The lawsuit charges, among other things, that FHWA and ADOT:
So many people came forward to tell their stories that we could not use them all for affidavits. Thanks to all of you for being so willing to help our case. |
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| Public Meeting to be held Wednesday
On Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at 7:00pm PARC will host a public meeting to discuss the lawsuit just filed and to answer questions. The meeting will be held at the Desert Foothills United Methodist Church, 2156 E. Liberty Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85048.Up-to-date information is always available on the PARC website at protectAZchildren.org, where one can also find links for donating by credit card. Of course, checks are always welcome too. Send to: PARC, PO Box 50455, Phoenix, AZ 85076-0455. For those on Facebook, answers to questions and lively discussions can be found at the PARC Facebook group page at facebook.com/groups/PARC.AZ. |
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Save the wells that feed the south Ahwatukee lakes! by Dr. Pat Lawlis, President of PARC This is the fifth in a series of discussions on seven areas of concerns with the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF). To begin the series, I discussed the fact that Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children’s (PARC’s) chances of winning in court are extremely good because the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) did a poor job studying the impacts of the SMF. For example, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are complicit in:
In previous installments, I discussed the first three specific areas of concern with the SMF. This discussion will be about the fourth topic – destruction of wells. Much of the character of Ahwatukee is dependent on lakes. The lakes that have already been drained in the defunct Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Club remind us of why we do not want any more lakes to disappear! Lakes are a soothing part of the landscape that encourage wildlife and support our way of life. They are worth fighting for, and I commend Save the Lakes for their work in this regard. Other Ahwatukee lakes are now threatened by the SMF. Lakewood stands to lose its identity without its lakes, and both the Foothills and Club West Golf Courses would cease to exist without their lakes. Yet the wells that feed these lakes would be destroyed by the SMF. ADOT has apparently recognized that the opposition from many Ahwatukee residents who depend on the lakes poses a real threat to their SMF plan. Although the Lakewood wells are in the right-of-way for the SMF, ADOT has informed the Lakewood Community Association that they may be able to ” . . . move the well controls and associated piping to outside of the right-of-way” to save the Lakewood wells. Of course, ADOT has also said, “Such an analysis would be performed later in the design process.” In other words, they have given hope to Lakewood residents while they have also provided themselves with an easy excuse in the likely event that their idea does not work. Early on, ADOT also said they would try to save the golf course well until it was pointed out to them that the well sits in the middle of the SMF right-of-way. You have probably seen it on the north side of Pecos Road just west of 24th Street. Now, ADOT has informed the Foothills Community Association that they will drill a new well to replace the one that they would destroy. Interestingly, however, in the Final Environmental Impact Statement, ADOT stated that ” . . . finding a suitable location for a new well in this area may be difficult.” In fact, the Foothills Community Association already tried to drill two new wells for their golf course, and both efforts resulted in dry wells. I have never seen a more blatant attempt to “divide and conquer.” ADOT is just trying to get the homeowners to reverse their opposition to the freeway. It is an unstated compliment to PARC that ADOT realizes the citizen-opposition to the SMF is a potent threat. They are making promises that they know cannot be fulfilled. ADOT just cares about making promises that will get residents off their back right now. They know these are empty promises. If construction on the freeway were to start, it would be too late to save the wells and the lakes. ADOT could just say, “Sorry, we couldn’t save the wells” and leave the residents to the consequences. City water would be the only remaining water source at a prohibitive cost. Two more Gee golf courses would vanish, giving rise to new threats for additional development. Lakewood lakes would dry up to the doom and gloom of its residents. Even if funding for city water was available, how long do you think that could last? Within a few years, given the current extended drought conditions and the promise that it will only get worse, the city will probably continue to raise water rates and, at the same time, severely cut the water it makes available for such “landscaping.” Now is the time to fight ADOT’s plan to destroy the remainder of Ahwatukee’s lakes. PARC’s lawsuit has been filed, and PARC needs the continuing support of those who care about the future of this community. My next installment will discuss the danger from hazardous materials. |
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| Questions? Visit us on Facebook |
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eNewsletter – published April 25, 2015
Why isn’t the lawsuit filed yet? Please have patience. We all want this lawsuit to be filed as soon as possible. It is in everyone’s best interest, however, for it to be well thought out and thorough. PARC’s attorney Howard Shanker has already produced excellent drafts, but drafts are not final documents. We need to be sure the temporary restraining order (TRO) is done properly so that all activity related to the SMF is stopped immediately. Many affidavits will go in with the TRO because so many people have stepped forward to tell their stories. We are now expecting the big announcement to be early in May. At that time, PARC will also announce a public meeting where we can discuss the specifics of the lawsuit and answer any questions the public may have. |
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| Fundraising
We have begun to have inquiries about how much we have raised and what we are doing with the money. These are legitimate questions, so we have prepared a space in the middle of our main webpage to address fundraising issues. A thermometer graphic will indicate where our fundraising currently stands at any particular time. A link underneath called “Click for details >” will go to a detailed discussion about PARC and funding. For easy reference, this information is also presented below:PARC was established as a grass roots non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 2006. What appeared to be an imminent threat from ADOT to pursue the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) project did not materialize at that time. Instead, the push for the SMF faded into the background. ADOT may have thought that PARC would go away in time. The SMF threat reappeared in 2013 in the form of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). PARC then became heavily engaged in the freeway proposal process, as defined in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Copies of PARC’s responses to the DEIS as well as the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released in 2014 are available on this web site. Of course, PARC’s administrative actions did not stop ADOT from pursuing the SMF, but they did prepare PARC for the lawsuit that would be required to stop the SMF project for good.PARC faced two major challenges in pursuing its desire to stop the SMF:
PARC was fortunate to have a very experienced and well-respected NEPA attorney available and interested from the very beginning. As a resident of Ahwatukee, NEPA attorney Howard Shanker was very familiar with the threat of the SMF and very interested in stopping it. Howard was also able to assist in finding and bringing in experts with the right credentials when they were needed. PARC knew from the outset that stopping the SMF would be expensive. It would require the professional services of an attorney and a number of experts. The advantage PARC had was that it was a 501(c)(3) organization that could serve to bring together any number of organizations and individuals to pool their resources to fight the SMF while making all donations to the cause tax deductible. An additional benefit for PARC is that much of the work done by both its attorney and its experts has been done pro bono, substantially lessening the required funding. A large portion of PARC’s funding comes from HOAs, specifically Calabrea, Club West, Foothills, and Lakewood. Each of these HOAs has substantial concerns about the SMF, but the concerns are different for each HOA. By pooling funding together through PARC, each of these HOAs can get their concerns addressed in PARC’s legal action. Most of this HOA funding has been in the range of $5-10 per household. Many individuals also realize that, through PARC, they can play an important role in fighting the SMF. They donate to PARC, keeping in mind how destructive the SMF would be to their homes and families as well as to their quality of life. While their children’s health and their quality of life cannot be measured in dollars, and the losses they would experience in home values are hard to estimate, most donors feel that generous donations are appropriate. PARC has very low overhead because its Board members, all of whom are volunteers, pay for almost all administrative expenses. For example, they rent meeting rooms as necessary and pay the yearly fees for website names. PARC’s primary advertising comes from the brochures distributed to homes and at events. Those brochures are all printed on volunteers’ printers, using paper and ink they pay for themselves (ink is very expensive!). One administrative cost PARC has is it pays a webmaster a modest amount each month to keep the website up to date and to format newsletters. Of course, there is also an administrative fee on all credit card donations, no matter whether they come through authorize.net or GoFundMe. Otherwise, all funds received go directly to PARC work on the lawsuit. Because of the fact that PARC has used its limited funding so sparingly, it has been able to successfully engage in fighting the SMF with a relatively small budget. We now anticipate that we will be able to successfully complete our lawsuit for a good bit less than the $500,000 we originally anticipated. We still have a long way to go, however, so continued funding is necessary. The funding has been and will continue to be used wisely until the lawsuit is settled! |
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ADOT proposes to poison our children! This is the fourth in a series of discussions on seven areas of concerns with the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF). To begin the series, I discussed the fact that Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children’s (PARC’s) chances of winning in court are extremely good because the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) did a poor job studying the impacts of the SMF. For example, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are complicit in:
In my second editorial, I began the discussions of each of the specific areas of concern with the SMF with the topic of distortion of purpose and need for the SMF. My third editorial was about air pollution. This discussion will be about the third topic, negative health effects – especially for children. To quote the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “People exposed to toxic air pollutants at sufficient concentrations and durations may have an increased chance of getting cancer or experiencing other serious health effects. These health effects can include damage to the immune system, as well as neurological, reproductive (e.g., reduced fertility), developmental, respiratory and other health problems.” The EPA further states, “exposures occurring during early childhood are assigned ‘age-dependent adjustment factors’ which adjust the ‘potency’ of the chemical for lifetime cancer risk as such:”
In my last editorial, I showed how the air pollution in Ahwatukee would increase to unacceptable levels if the SMF were to be built. As stated above, the EPA recognizes how this type of increase in air pollution is a particular threat to children. Experts also agree that our children are at high risk for negative health effects from the SMF. Numerous studies have documented the role of traffic related pollution in respiratory health. One of PARC’s experts, Dr. George Thurston, a full Professor at the New York University School of Medicine in the Department of Environmental Medicine, has published extensively and is a recognized expert in the area of human health effects of inhaled air pollutants. With respect to the SMF, Dr. Thurston has specifically indicated that children attending schools within ½ mile of the freeway would be at high risk of developing asthma or making it worse and experiencing retarded respiratory development and reduced lung function. Over 14,000 students are currently enrolled in 17 such schools, and 10 of these schools are in Ahwatukee. Dr. Thurston has also stated that for adults, particularly seniors, exposure to air pollution from freeway traffic has been linked to heart attack, coronary artery disease, and increased risk of premature death. ADOT has failed to address adequately the public health risks associated with the SMF project. If the SMF were to be built, our children would pay the highest price. PARC will file a lawsuit against ADOT and the FHWA very soon to protect Ahwatukee – especially our children. The next article will discuss the wells that would be destroyed during freeway construction. |
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eNewsletter – published April 09, 2015
| Lawsuit to be filed soon!As you probably know by now, ADOT released the Record of Decision (ROD) for the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) on March 10, 2015. As expected, the decision is to build the SMF from the intersection with the I-10 and the Loop 202 San Tan Freeway, west along Pecos Road, cutting northwest through 3 ridges of South Mountain, then turning north and meeting the I-10 west at 59th Avenue.We have waited many years to get to this point where a ROD has been issued for the SMF. Now, we can finally prepare to take ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to court and stop this poor excuse for a freeway once and for all!PARC’s attorney Howard Shanker is immersed in the preparation of our lawsuit right now. His main challenge is that PARC’s experts have identified so many issues with this proposed freeway and have produced so much supporting documentation that it is tedious boiling it all down and organizing it properly for a court filing!
Howard is planning to file the suit in court just as soon as it is ready. Look for a big announcement around the end of April or beginning of May. At that time, PARC will also announce a public meeting where we can discuss the specifics of the lawsuit and answer any questions the public may have. IMPORTANT – If you: |
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March 28th event at Nabers a rocking success! We were unable to count the number of people who came to Nabers for our concert fundraiser because there were so many! PARC supporters filled the place while 6 bands (some adults, mostly youngsters) of Music Maker Workshops played. It was the largest lunch crowd Nabers had ever had, and the kitchen had trouble keeping up with the orders! Not only did everyone seem to have a great time, but it was also a very successful fundraiser for PARC. All told, including some people who went home and donated online that day, PARC raised $5000! |
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Karla Rozum wins painting in Silent Auction! Included in the Nabers fundraiser was the final bidding on the Silent Auction for Rich Fischer’s painting of South Mountain. The highest bid of $751 came from Karla Rozum via text message, so PARC delivered the painting to her the next day. She was thrilled to have this beautiful painting of the mountain she loves to hike! |
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Down to the wire in doing your taxes? Help yourself and PARC. Print the H&R Block flyer (miniature seen here) on the PARC web site (under Archived Info in the right hand margin), take it to your local H&R Block office, and have them do your taxes for you. Alternatively, copy the ID number 40010001081108 and take this newsletter with you. H&R Block will do your taxes and donate $20 to PARC. |
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Air pollution – for better or for worse? This is the third in a series of discussions on seven areas of concern with the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF). These articles are also being submitted to the Ahwatukee Foothills News as guest editorials. To begin the series, I discussed the fact that Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children’s (PARC’s) chances of winning in court are extremely good because the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) did a poor job studying the impacts of the SMF. For example, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are complicit in:
In my second editorial, I began the discussions of each of the specific areas of issues with the SMF by discussing the distortion of purpose and need for the SMF. This discussion will be about the second topic, air pollution. Many different pollutants affect air quality. In the Valley of the Sun, particulate matter (dust) is a major problem in addition to ozone and carbon monoxide. Another class of pollutants of particular concern are called mobile source air toxics (MSATs) – compounds emitted from highway vehicles – and these include formaldehyde, benzene, a bunch of compounds I cannot pronounce, and diesel particulate matter. Diesel particulate matter is a significant concern for the SMF. About 5000 trucks cross the border at Nogales daily after filling their tanks with high sulfur content diesel fuel – available in Mexico but not in the U.S. These trucks could easily reach the SMF before refueling, so they would be spewing a high concentration of diesel particulate matter into the air near Ahwatukee. Although this type of highly concentrated pollution would have a significant effect on air quality, ADOT does not even consider it as a part of their air quality models. ADOT does not admit that the SMF would be a truck bypass. In spite of much public outcry about the truck bypass, ADOT continues to insist that the SMF would have a “normal” distribution of vehicles – 10% would be trucks. Even if we were to use ADOT’s reasoning, the SMF would be filled to capacity within a short time. About 135,000 vehicles per day would use the SMF, and 13,500 of them would be trucks. Note how this differs from ADOT’s implication (through the video on their website) that the traffic on the SMF would be very sparse, with no trucks at all! If we consider the SMF as a truck bypass, it is not unreasonable to expect more like 20% of vehicles to be trucks, or close to 30,000 trucks per day! Just imagine the pollution coming from all these diesel trucks! ADOT has developed a narrative that makes it sound like all the above-mentioned air pollutants are decreasing at such a rate throughout the valley that no freeway could possibly make them worse. They have used models to “prove” this. While I do not doubt that these models are valid when used properly with appropriate input data, ADOT is not using them properly. As the old saying about computers goes, “garbage in, garbage out!” ADOT has avoided studying air quality in Ahwatukee. They have given no indication that they know how the South Mountain “air shed” affects wind currents or air pollutants throughout Ahwatukee. With a prevailing wind that blows air pollutants from the south right up against South Mountain, it would be nice to have information about the present air quality in various locations in Ahwatukee, starting with locations close to the mountain and working south all the way to Pecos Road. Yet, without any data about air currents or the present state of air pollution in Ahwatukee, ADOT claims to be able to predict that future air quality would improve in spite of the presence of a freeway through the area. The EPA says ADOT’s predicted decline in pollutants is not likely. As one who has spent a great deal of my professional life dealing with computer modeling and simulation, I reiterate what I said in the first of this series. ADOT has demonstrated an inability to use proper modeling techniques for projecting future conditions. When modeling the air pollution resulting from the SMF, ADOT has picked inputs for their models from locations throughout the valley that measure air quality. The EPA has found that ADOT tends to be inconsistent in selecting inputs for their models. The EPA report on ADOT’s Environmental Impact Statement indicates that ADOT confuses the overall study area (Maricopa County) with the area directly adjacent to the project corridor (the proposed freeway corridor). In other words, ADOT picks and chooses air quality inputs for their models from a variety of locations throughout the valley rather than using inputs from locations along the freeway. The result is that their models prove nothing about air quality along the proposed freeway route. Air pollution is a second area in which PARC is well prepared to contest the SMF in court. Yet I still have five more SMF major problem areas to discuss. The next article will discuss the negative health effects brought about by the air pollution. |
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eNewsletter – published March 16, 2015
The Record of Decision has been released! ADOT released the Record of Decision (ROD) for the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) on March 10, 2015. As expected, the decision is to build the SMF from the intersection with the I-10 and the Loop 202 San Tan Freeway, west along Pecos Road, cutting northwest through 3 ridges of South Mountain, then turning north and meeting the I-10 west at 59th Avenue. Do not despair! This step was the next necessary step in the process outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We have waited many years to get to this point. Now, we can finally prepare to take ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to court and stop this poor excuse for a freeway once and for all! For more detail on PARC’s grounds for taking ADOT and the FHWA to court, see our article “Legal process against South Mountain Freeway just getting started” in our last newsletter. Also see the second article in this series, “ADOT distorts purpose and need for South Mountain Freeway,” at the end of this newsletter. |
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March 28th Come Rock and Roll to Stop the Freeway! Join PARC and friends for a Rock & Roll “Stop the Freeway Bash” on Saturday, March 28th from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm. Have lunch, drinks, and fun while listening to 5 kids rock bands and one adult rock band from the Music Maker Workshops in Ahwatukee. We will ask for a $5 minimum donation at the door, and PARC will receive 20% of the bar/food receipts generated by our group. We will also hold a 50-50 raffle, and we will complete the silent auction bidding for the painting of South Mountain (see “Silent Auction – local artist donates painting of South Mountain for fundraiser” below). Nabers is located just across the freeway at 825 N 54th St in Chandler between Chandler Blvd and Ray Road. Nabers identifies more with Ahwatukee than with Chandler and belongs to the Ahwatukee Chamber of Commerce. Come support your local business, support your children and the Music Maker Workshops, and support PARC at the same time! |
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| Silent Auction – local artist donates painting of South Mountain for fundraiserLocal artist Rich Fischer has donated a beautiful painting of the west end of South Mountain (the part that would be destroyed by the SMF) to PARC to help us raise funds for our fight against ADOT and the SMF. The painting (with frame) is valued at approximately $600.We will auction it off via a Silent Auction that will run until March 28th at our “Come Rock & Roll to Stop the Freeway” concert at Nabers, where the painting will go to the highest bidder. Winner need not be present.Bids will be updated daily on our Facebook and Twitter accounts until the 28th, and new bids can be made via our Facebook group page, Twitter (@PARCtheSMF), or email to PARCtheSMF@aol.com at any time before the 28th. On the 28th, bids may be texted to 602-692-3303 until 2:00pm when the winner will be announced.
If you wish to examine the painting before entering a bid, use one of the above-mentioned methods of communication to arrange a viewing. We cannot leave such a valuable painting in a public place, but we would be happy to bring it to the parking lot of the Pecos Post Office at a convenient time for viewing. |
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Still need to do your taxes? Help yourself and PARC. Print the H&R Block flyer (miniature seen here) on the PARC web site (under Archived Info in the right hand margin) and take it to your local H&R Block office. Alternatively, copy the ID number 40010001081108 and take this newsletter with you. H&R Block will do your taxes and donate $20 to PARC. |
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| Club West residents approve PARC funding through HOAOn March 5th, Club West residents passed a resolution for their HOA to provide up to $25,000 funding for PARC over the next year. That is approximately $10 per household. Thank you Club West residents! Please keep in mind, however, that individual funding is important for PARC as well.Lakewood residents have yet to vote for a resolution that would assess each household $200 for the HOA Board to use toward freeway issues. Some of these funds would go to PARC, as the Lakewood Board is trying to ensure that Lakewood would not lose its lakes. Please be sure to vote, Lakewood residents!Remember, funding is critical for PARC at this important time. Please be as generous as possible! | ||||||||||
ADOT distorts purpose and need for South Mountain Freeway This is the second in a series of discussions on seven areas of issues with the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF). These articles are also being submitted to the Ahwatukee Foothills News as guest editorials. To begin the series, I discussed the fact that Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children’s (PARC’s) chances of winning in court are extremely good because of the combination of these seven areas of grounds for suing the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA):
This time I will concentrate on ADOT’s weak attempts to provide a purpose and need for the SMF. Purpose and need are the first requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the governing law for the development of a new freeway. Without purpose and need, a new freeway cannot be justified. About 30 years ago, ADOT decided on the need for the SMF and that it would be located from I-10 and the Loop 202 San Tan Freeway down Pecos Road, through three ridges of South Mountain, meeting I-10 again at 59th Avenue. By 1988, ADOT began purchasing land for a right-of-way along 59th Avenue and along Pecos Road. Perhaps this activity could be regarded as “just in case” purchases except that ADOT has never purchased right-of-way land for any other possible SMF alternatives. The problem is that NEPA prohibits ADOT from deciding the location of a freeway until they have completed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS is to consider all possible alternatives, including every possible location for the freeway as well as alternative forms of transportation. ADOT published the Final EIS for the SMF in September 2014. Since from the very beginning they had decided on the specifics of the SMF, it was no surprise that the EIS found “reasons” for eliminating all other possible forms of transportation and all other possible locations for a freeway. ADOT’s “reasons” are very flimsy, however, for many of the alternatives, and they will not hold up in court. For example, the current truck bypass – from I-10 at Casa Grande, west on I-8 to Gila Bend, then north on SR 85 to where it intersects with I-10 at Buckeye – was eliminated as a possibility because it is outside of Maricopa County. Speaking of truck bypasses, it takes no genius to determine that the SMF is intended as one. With a major commercial area around 51st Avenue on the west side of South Mountain, companies like the “tank farm” are chomping at the bit to have a shortcut for their gasoline tanker trucks carrying hazardous materials (hazmats) to the East Valley. The EIS excludes tunneling through South Mountain as an alternative for the SMF because hazmats cannot use freeways with tunnels. The EIS also dismisses out of hand all alternative forms of transportation, such as light rail, that would move people around. Clearly, the SMF is for hauling freight, using hazmats as well as the big rigs of the trucking companies near 51st Avenue. Of course, ADOT has never admitted that the SMF is intended as a truck bypass because Phoenix already has one of them, and it is far outside the metropolitan area as it should be. So ADOT continues with the ruse that the SMF is intended as just another freeway. ADOT evidently figured that they would have no opposition to their EIS, so they developed a really shoddy document. The Draft EIS that came out in 2013 used census data from 2005, rather than the readily available 2010 data, to try to support traffic projections for 2035. Considering that the traffic projection models they use are only valid for projections of about 2 years into the future, even once they updated the data in the Final EIS, their projections were useless. The ineffectiveness of ADOT’s long-range traffic projections was illustrated by the fact that, using the 2005 data, their projections for 2010 were off by more than 10%. Extrapolating 25 years into the future compounds the error 5 times over, so the traffic projections for 2035 could be off by more than 50%! Even though ADOT has been able to manipulate one of their modeling techniques (however inappropriately) to try to “justify” a need for a freeway in 2035, they have been unable to get their models to show that the SMF would bring any of the traffic congestion relief that they promised. In their Final EIS, in Table 3-8 Regional Travel Times 2035, on page 3-34, ADOT projects that in 2035, with the SMF in place, a trip from Ahwatukee Foothills Village to Downtown Phoenix (or vice versa) would save a driver one minute! Further, the reader is supposed to be impressed by the total number of minutes that would be saved by 135,000 or so drivers!
These are but a few examples of the type of logic ADOT uses in the EIS for the SMF. With all ADOT’s missteps in the EIS regarding purpose and need well documented and well refuted by experts in traffic engineering, demographics, and modeling, PARC is well prepared to contest the SMF in court in the area of purpose and need. Yet purpose and need is just the first area in which PARC has a winning case. My next installment will discuss the area of air pollution. |
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eNewsletter – published February 28, 2015
Some HOAs asking homeowners to vote about PARC funding The Club West and Lakewood HOAs are asking homeowners to vote on whether to provide funding for PARC. If you live in one of these areas, don’t forget to add your voice of support for PARC by voting!. |
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PARC participating in Transportation Day PARC will once again have a booth at the 15th Annual Transportation Day, Saturday, February 28, 2015 from 9:00am to 1:00pm at God’s Garden Preschool, located at the Horizon Presbyterian Church, 1401 E. Liberty Lane. Organizers anticipate 3000 to 3500 attendees. It is a wonderful opportunity for PARC to talk with parents of youngsters up through age 10 about one form of transportation that would be harmful to Ahwatukee – the South Mountain Freeway. We appreciate those who have volunteered to help. We will be setting up starting at around 7:00am (just to be sure we get the space we want). |
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March 28th PARC concert fundraiser at Nabers Mark your calendar. Nabers, a popular place for music and eats, will be hosting a PARC fundraiser event on Saturday, March 28th from 11:00 to 2:30 – lunchtime. Join us for lunch, drinks, music, fun, and information. The Music Maker Workshop’s rock & roll bands will be playing, and other events are in the planning stages. We will ask for a $5 minimum donation at the door, and PARC will receive 20% of the bar/food receipts generated by our group. Nabers is located just across the freeway at 825 N 54th St in Chandler between Chandler Blvd and Ray Road. Nabers identifies more with Ahwatukee than with Chandler and belongs to the Ahwatukee Chamber of Commerce. |
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| Legal process against South Mountain Freeway just getting startedThe Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is hoping they have convinced the public that the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) is a “done deal.” While it is true that ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will soon be releasing a Record of Decision (ROD) concerning the SMF – and everyone expects it to say that the SMF will be built – this event marks the beginning of the real work for which Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) has been preparing for years. The ROD is the end of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It marks the beginning, however, of the legal process that is permitted by law.PARC has responded to the Draft EIS released in 2013 and the Final EIS released in 2014 with in-depth expert commentary identifying the unresolved issues brought to light during the EIS process. For the most part, ADOT has not resolved these issues. That means that PARC’s expert comments regarding the unresolved issues provide a basis – a very strong basis – for legal action against building the SMF.With the release of the ROD, PARC anticipates filing an administrative appeal, once again citing the unresolved issues. With ADOT’s expected act of denying the appeal, all administrative avenues available for stopping the SMF will be exhausted, and PARC will finally be free to file a lawsuit against ADOT and the FHWA in federal court. The first action of the suit will be to request a temporary injunction against any building activity on the SMF.PARC is poised to start the legal process that we expect will stop the SMF for good. Pessimists say that suing the government is a useless exercise, but they are wrong. A good body of case law exists on other freeways that have been stopped. In most of these cases, a freeway was stopped just because one important issue was not resolved. PARC has at least seven (7) areas of issues with the SMF, and any one of them can stop this freeway! Putting all these issues together makes PARC’s chances of winning in court extremely good.In future weeks, I will provide an in-depth discussion of each of these seven areas of issues, one at a time, to keep you properly informed. I will also be submitting these discussions to the Ahwatukee Foothills News as guest editorials.
These areas of issues are:
Meanwhile, with an administrative appeal to be prepared and a court case to be filed very soon, if you ever have considered stopping the SMF a worthy cause, now is the time to donate to PARC! Even small donations help because they add up to significant amounts. Larger donations, however, are also necessary for PARC to raise the kind of funds needed to get this court case started and to keep it going. PARC has already spent approximately $175,000 to prepare the responses to the Draft and Final EISs. It will take at least that much again to see this case through court. Surely, most Ahwatukee households can manage $100 right now. Small businesses are donating $500 to $1000. Please be as generous as you can. |
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eNewsletter – published February 4, 2015
PARC is finalist for Ahwatukee Non-Profit of the Year Award The Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce is hosting its 16th Annual Chamber Day of Champions on Friday, February 6, 2015. Businesses and individuals will be awarded for 2014: Business of the Year, New Business of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Educational Mentor of the Year, and Non-Profit of the Year. PARC is among the four finalists nominated for the prestigious award of Non-Profit of the Year. |
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| Don’t forget this coming Saturday… South Mountain: Hike It Don’t Drive It!
The Bursera Trail hike will be Saturday, February 7th from 9-11 AM. The hike starts and ends at the Bursera Trailhead at 19th Ave and Chandler Blvd. Enjoy beautiful South Mountain Preserve Park and learn how the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will affect this natural resource and the Ahwatukee community. After hiking approximately 2 miles on the Bursera Trail, you will come to an overlook where you can see the west end of South Mountain and visualize the path of the proposed SMF. A guide will be at that location to describe the proposed freeway route. A Park Ranger will also be available to educate hikers about the park and its many natural wonders. The return hike will be a return on the Bursera Trail, making the total hike about 4 miles long. It will be a hike of moderate difficulty. For more adventuresome hikers who like long, challenging hikes, one could continue on the Bursera Trail to where it ends at an intersection with the National Trail. Travel east from there to the intersection with the Pyramid Trail, and follow the Pyramid all the way back down to the trailhead (map will be available at the trailhead). Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) and the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC) are sponsoring this hike. They will have a table at 19th Ave just outside the parking lot to provide hikers with information about the hike and about the SMF. Hike is free. Of course, donations are always welcome! “Save Ahwatukee” T-shirts will be available for the special price of a $10 donation per shirt. Hike will begin at the Bursera and Pyramid Trailhead at the parking lot where 19th Ave meets Chandler Blvd. If you are coming from farther east in Ahwatukee, follow Chandler Blvd all the way to 19th Ave and turn right into the parking lot. If you are coming from farther west in Ahwatukee or from outside the community, follow Pecos Road to 17th Ave, turn north to Chandler Blvd, then west to 19th Ave. If the parking lot is full, there is a lot of parking on Chandler Blvd. |
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| PARC participating in Transportation DayPARC will once again have a booth at the 15th Annual Transportation Day, Saturday, February 28, 2015 from 9:00am to 1:00pm at God’s Garden Preschool, located at the Horizon Presbyterian Church, 1401 E. Liberty Lane. Organizers anticipate 3000 to 3500 attendees. It is a wonderful opportunity for PARC to talk with parents of youngsters up through age 10 about one form of transportation that would be harmful to Ahwatukee – the South Mountain Freeway.As usual, volunteers are needed to help in the booth. If you are available for set-up, starting no later than 7:30am, or to talk with people as they come by during any part of the 9am to 1pm event, please return this email to PARCtheSMF@aol.com. | ||||
| ROD still expected by end of the month.The Record of Decision (ROD) on the proposed South Mountain Freeway (SMF) from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is still expected by the end of February 2015. Of course, every expectation is that it will say that the SMF is approved. That will just be the beginning, however, of the legal fight against the freeway.With its extensive examination of the Environmental Impact Statements on the SMF and thorough documentation of the proposed freeway’s shortcomings, PARC is well positioned to challenge the SMF in court. | ||||
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eNewsletter – published January 21, 2015
ADOT and the FHWA expect ROD in February The latest ADOT indication is that the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will be out by the end of February 2015. Meanwhile, ADOT is at work trying to purchase more land on the western end of Pecos Road (where the proposed freeway would turn from Pecos Road to go through South Mountain – see photo) and PARC is at work developing strategies for an administrative appeal and a court case to follow. We expect a flurry of activity regarding the SMF during the first half of 2015. Meanwhile, we are still in need of much funding! Please consider a generous donation! You can donate by credit card online using the button in this newsletter or send a check. Our mailing address is at the bottom of this newsletter. Unfortunately, the issue of the SMF will not be resolved quickly, so it requires continued financing. Thank you for your support! |
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South Mountain: Hike It Don’t Drive It!Bursera Trail hike February 7th
Mark your calendar for Saturday, February 7th from 9-11 AM. The hike starts and ends at the Bursera Trailhead at 19th Ave and Chandler Blvd. Enjoy beautiful South Mountain Preserve Park and learn how the proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (SMF) will affect this natural resource and the Ahwatukee community. After hiking approximately 2 miles on the Bursera Trail, you will come to an overlook where you can see the west end of South Mountain and visualize the path of the proposed SMF. A guide will be at that location to describe the proposed freeway route. A Park Ranger will also be available to educate hikers about the park and its many natural wonders. The return hike will be a return on the Bursera Trail, making the total hike about 4 miles long. It will be a hike of moderate difficulty. For more adventuresome hikers who like long, challenging hikes, one could continue on the Bursera Trail to where it ends at an intersection with the National Trail. Travel east from there to the intersection with the Pyramid Trail, and follow the Pyramid all the way back down to the trailhead (see map). Protecting Arizona’s Resources and Children (PARC) and the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC) are sponsoring this hike. They will have a table at 19th Ave just outside the parking lot to provide hikers with information about the hike and about the SMF. Hike is free. Of course, donations are always welcome! “Save Ahwatukee” T-shirts will be available for the special price of a $10 donation per shirt. Hike will begin at the Bursera and Pyramid Trailhead at the parking lot where 19th Ave meets Chandler Blvd. If you are coming from farther east in Ahwatukee, follow Chandler Blvd all the way to 19th Ave and turn right into the parking lot. If you are coming from farther west in Ahwatukee or from outside the community, follow Pecos Road to 17th Ave, turn north to Chandler Blvd, then west to 19th Ave. If the parking lot is full, there is a lot of parking on Chandler Blvd. We can still use volunteers to help with the hike. We need one or more volunteers to be at the overlook on the Bursera Trail to explain the freeway route to hikers. Many hikers also enjoy having a “guide” to describe the hike all the way up. Additionally, we need volunteers at the table on 19th Ave. Since those who park in the parking lot will not go past the table, we need one or more volunteers to walk through the parking lot to hand out information. |
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| Sal DiCiccio expresses PARC supportIn a recent discussion of the SMF with PARC President Pat Lawlis and Treasurer Jim Jochim, Sal DiCiccio wanted to be clear that he supports PARC.Sal, our Phoenix City Councilman from District 6, has been criticized as possibly having a conflict of interest over the SMF because of land he owns at Pecos Road and 40th Street. He rejects this criticism, however, because he says his investment in the property in question will work out for him regardless of whether the SMF is built or not. He and his partners in the real estate are planning to attract several businesses to the land, starting with a gas station that will be built soon. In the near future, they are hoping to attract a hospital and one or two additional tenants. Sal emphasizes that the businesses will be built regardless of whether the freeway goes in or not.Sal has a history of supporting PARC. He has donated to PARC, making him a member, and he has brought in some additional funds as well. Several years ago, he also worked very hard to bring about a compromise that would have put the SMF on land further south on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC). Of course, the compromise did not succeed and that solution is no longer viable because the GRIC has voted against having the freeway on its land. With the information provided by PARC’s experts about the wide-ranging effects of air pollution from a freeway to the south of Ahwatukee, it is good for us that the GRIC also sees the SMF as undesirable.In October, when PARC addressed the City Council, it was Sal who requested that the SMF be put on the agenda for a vote at a subsequent meeting. The item did not get to the agenda because of opposition from other council members.Sal continues his opposition to the SMF on Pecos Road and through South Mountain, and he continues his support for PARC. | ||||
Planning underway for a Concert March 28th. Our attorney, Howard Shanker, is in a rock band! Who knew? His band, along with all the Music Makers kids rock bands and possibly other bands are looking to put on a concert tentatively Saturday, March 28th. We need volunteers to coordinate this as a PARC fundraising event. We can probably charge a cover charge and have a silent auction or a 50/50 raffle as a part of the event as well. Any takers? Please let us know. |
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eNews – published December 29, 2014
PARC wishes you a Happy New Year! 2015 will be a very important year, as PARC plans to take ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to court. |
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Additional Comments on the FEIS for the Proposed Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway As you may know, ADOT extended the comment period for the FEIS until December 27th. ADOT failed to address 10 sets of comments on the DEIS in the original FEIS, so ADOT published a Volume IV (Errata) to the FEIS to address the missed comments. As the extended comment period is closing, PARC would like to share with you the additional comments our president sent to ADOT:
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| PARC anticipates a lawsuit against ADOT and the FHWA next year.Unfortunately, PARC has no expectations that the Record of Decision (ROD) to be released by ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) within the next month or so will respond to reason any more than the FEIS responded to reason. Hence, PARC will forge ahead with appealing the decision to build the South Mountain Freeway. After the appeal is denied, PARC will also file suit in federal court. These actions will both likely happen within the first half of 2015.Meanwhile, our fundraising is not quite keeping up with our expenses from the FEIS response, let alone preparing us for court. We maintain a very low overhead because we are all volunteers and major expenses such as printing costs have been absorbed by some of these volunteers. We do fundraising as we need it, and we need it now.Please consider what you have to lose and donate what you can. Remember that all donations to PARC are tax deductible. | |||||
Plans for another Sweetheart Hike February 7th. Many of you enjoyed our hikes last winter, so we are looking at another Sweetheart Hike in February. We are avoiding having the hike on Valentine’s Day itself since that is a special day for many and it is also part of a holiday weekend in 2015. So the Sweetheart Hike will occur on Saturday, February 7th. It will be jointly sponsored by PARC and the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC), one of our partners in the fight against the freeway. We are just beginning the planning process, so we are looking for volunteers to help in the planning as well as during the hike. Our preliminary idea is to offer two possible trails to hikers: the Bursera Trail (out and back) or the route up Telegraph Pass and down the Pyramid Trail. We will have T-shirts and bumper stickers available for hikers, with other ideas also a possibility. Let us know if you want to help with the hike. More specific details will be forthcoming next month. |
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| Goldman Ranch HOA meets to discuss devastation.Goldman Ranch stands to lose about 90% of its homes if the South Mountain Freeway is built. The Goldman Ranch homes are just east of the Mountain Park Community Church that would also be lost to the freeway.In early December, PARC set up a meeting for the Goldman Ranch HOA so the homeowners could discuss their mutual problems and interests. It seems that at least some of the Goldman Ranch leadership is ready to throw in the towel and give up on their homes. They even had the poor judgment to invite ADOT and some real estate sharks to the meeting.The meeting was well attended, and in spite of the hostile environment, PARC gave a good representation of our mission to defeat ADOT. Goldman Ranch HOA will probably not provide financial support to PARC, even though our work will be beneficial to their homeowners whether or not they are forced to sell their homes. Many Goldman Ranch homeowners, however, were very supportive of PARC, and the most important thing is for them to get good information and support. We hope they will also individually support PARC. | |||||
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eNewsletter – published November 12, 2014
Summary of the second PARC public meeting.
The October 29, 2014 public meeting was very well attended. PARC attorney, Howard Shanker, again talked about the legal process for stopping the SMF, and people asked lots of questions. As in the first meeting, Howard discussed the legal process that works like this:
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| When should we be worried?It is very important to understand that as we work our way through this NEPA process (described above), there will be times when ADOT will announce that the SMF has been approved and they are ready to start building it!Especially in number 3 above, when ADOT and the FHWA submit a Record of Decision that says they will build the freeway, it will appear that they have won. They will provide a lot of fanfare to try to deflate those who were hoping the SMF would be stopped. But that is just the beginning of PARC’s real fight!After we make our administrative appeal regarding the ROD, still in number 3 above, the appeal will be denied. Once again, it will look like ADOT has won. Not so.It is after all of that, in number 4 above, that ADOT gets stopped in their tracks. They will make no big fanfare when PARC sues them in court – but we will announce it to the world!Then we will all be in for a really long court process. ADOT will undoubtedly try some legal tricks along the way. They could possibly even win the decision coming out of federal district court in Phoenix. Unfortunately, our Arizona judges are not completely divorced from politics.
However, once the case goes to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, we expect to get a fair ruling. We are very confident that we will win this case in the end!
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Still time to comment on the FEIS. There is still time to comment to ADOT on the FEIS. Be sure to say in your comments that you are a member of PARC. Comments can be sent to: South Mountain Freeway Project Team Arizona Department of Transportation 1655 W Jackson St, MD 126F Phoenix, AZ 85007 or they may be emailed to projects@azdot.gov |
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Festival of Lights Kickoff Party.PARC will continue to be active after the FEIS comments are in and even after we take our case against ADOT to court. Our next event will be the Festival of Lights Kickoff Party where PARC will, once again, have a booth. The event will be November 29th at Desert Foothills Park.
Come and visit us, have a discussion, stick around and talk to people who walk by thinking the SMF is a “done deal.” This event will be another important way to inform the public about what we are doing. You would be surprised at how many people still say they know nothing about PARC’s work to oppose the freeway. The event will also be an important fundraiser, and we will once again have T-shirts available for anyone donating at least $20. |
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eNewsletter – published October 21, 2014
| One more PARC public meeting coming up.On October 29th, PARC will hold its last of two public meetings to update everyone about the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) and discuss what the future holds. PARC decided on two meetings to provide two chances for citizens to attend. To make it as convenient as possible, the first was at the Club West HOA building and the second will be at the Foothills Golf Club.PARC attorney, Howard Shanker will once again provide an update on the legal process and how it will proceed. See the following article for a summary of the first meeting.PARC PUBLIC MEETING:Wednesday, October 297:00 – 8:00 PM
Foothills Golf Club 2201 E Clubhouse Drive PARC only has until November 25th to provide a response to the FEIS. With this response, PARC will have built a necessary, powerful foundation for a legal challenge to the SMF. PARC expects to win this case in court! Needless to say, now is an important time for fundraising. The response to the FEIS will be costly. Please consider an online credit card donation or a check. You can either bring a check to the meeting or mail it to PARC at PO Box 50455, Phoenix AZ 85076-0455. Thank you for your continued support. |
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Summary of the first PARC public meeting.
The October 15th public meeting was well attended. PARC attorney, Howard Shanker, talked about the legal process for stopping the SMF, and people asked lots of questions. The legal process works like this: 1) ADOT submitted a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for public comment (this occurred last year and PARC submitted a 318-page document to ADOT in response); 2) ADOT submitted a Final EIS (FEIS) responding to the comments it received on the DEIS (the FEIS was released Sept 26th and the public has until Nov 25th to comment on it – PARC will again submit a comprehensive set of comments, and individuals are encouraged to submit their own comments as well); 3) ADOT will submit a Record of Decision (ROD) by the end of the year (PARC will counter with an administrative appeal, probably early in 2015); 4) PARC will sue ADOT in Federal District Court (Phoenix), including filing an injunction to prevent any building activity – this type of legal action is measured in months or even years; 5) If the District Court ruling is appealed (expected), it will go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (San Francisco) – again this type of process is measured in months or years. The bottom line about the FEIS is that it resolves none of the DEIS concerns. Demographic data was updated from 2005 data to 2010 data, but ADOT drew the same misguided and misleading conclusions from it. As with the DEIS, the FEIS provides flawed analyses, generalities, and heavy-handed justifications. As an attorney, Howard spoke cautiously about expected court outcomes; he said we have a “very strong case.” Steve Brittle (environmental activist) was enthusiastic as he said PARC’s case is the strongest he has ever seen. Steve has been involved with nearly 100 environmental cases that have gone to court and ended in favorable outcomes.
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Phoenix City Council fails to vote on SMF.
As reported in the last newsletter, many PARC members attended the October 1st Phoenix City Council meeting. PARC had 10 members who spoke to the Council along with a supporter from the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC). Councilman Sal DiCiccio of Ahwatukee asked for a vote on the freeway issue at the next formal Council meeting. At that next Council meeting, on October 15th, several residents of Laveen and other parts of the valley also spoke against the SMF. We expected the SMF to be on the agenda at that meeting, but it did not happen. The Council appears to be stonewalling the issue. A Council vote provides all of us who are opposed to the freeway with an opportunity to be heard! We may not win a vote, but at least the Council members would be forced to show their true colors about the issue! If you are willing, please contact each Council member and the Mayor with an email or a phone call and let them know you want a vote to be taken on the SMF issue. Also let them know what a bad idea the SMF is! (See our last issue for suggestions.) Contact information is:
Let the Council know they are accountable to the public! |
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eNewsletter – published October 6, 2014
IMPORTANT ALERT! Our opportunity to be heard!
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| PARC to hold public meetingsPARC will hold two public meetings to update everyone about the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) and discuss what the future holds. PARC decided on two meetings to provide two chances for citizens to attend. To make it as convenient as possible, one will be on the west side and one on the east side of Ahwatukee.PARC attorney, Howard Shanker will provide an update on the legal process and how it will proceed. Now that the FEIS has been released, we will finally have the opportunity to get this proposed freeway issue to court and get it resolved once and for all!PARC PUBLIC MEETINGS:Wednesday, October 157:00 – 8:00 PM
Club West HOA Building 16400 S 14th Ave (end of 14th Ave next to the park) Wednesday, October 29 7:00 – 8:00 PM Foothills Golf Club 2201 E Clubhouse Drive PARC has until November 25th to provide a response to the FEIS. With this response, PARC will have laid a necessary and powerful foundation for a legal challenge to the SMF. PARC expects to win this case in court! Needless to say, this is a very important time for fundraising for PARC. The response to the FEIS will be costly. Please consider an online credit card donation or a check. You can either bring a check to one of the meetings or else mail it to PARC at PO Box 50455, Phoenix AZ 85076-0455. Thank you for your continued support. |
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Phoenix City Council to vote on SMF!
Many PARC members attended the October 1st Phoenix City Council meeting. PARC had 10 members who spoke to the Council along with a supporter from the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC). Only about half of the 3-minute talks fit in before the meeting, so attendees had to wait through the 2-hour meeting before the other half got to speak! Council members heard excellent presentations from the hearts of the speakers. The council listened! Councilman Sal DiCiccio from Ahwatukee asked for a vote on the freeway to be taken at the next formal Council meeting. A Council vote provides all of us who are opposed to the freeway with an opportunity to be heard! If you are willing, please contact each Council member and the Mayor with an email or a phone call and let them know what a bad idea the SMF is! Contact information is: council.district.1@phoenix.gov Thelda Williams 602.262.7444 council.district.2@phoenix.gov Jim Waring 602.262.7445 council.district.3@phoenix.gov Bill Gates 602.262.7441 council.district.4@phoenix.gov Laura Pastor 602.262.7447 council.district.5@phoenix.gov Daniel Valenzuela 602.262.7446 council.district.6@phoenix.gov Sal DiCiccio 602.262.7491 council.district.7@phoenix.gov Micheal Nowakowski 602.262.7492 council.district.8@phoenix.gov Kate Gallego 602.262.7493 mayor.stanton@phoenix.gov Greg Stanton 602.262.7111 Below are some suggested points you could make (information provided by PARC’s experts). You can talk about just one or two of them or about all of them. Be passionate about this issue!
The City Council may well vote in favor of the SMF because ADOT has been telling everyone what they want to hear – that the freeway would improve traffic congestion and lessen air pollution. Most Phoenix citizens who do not live in Ahwatukee have probably not looked closely enough at those statements to realize that they are not true. That means the Council members may believe their constituents are pro freeway. Our information blitz may or may not make a difference, but it would be a real coup for PARC if the Council voted against the freeway. The Council cannot stop the freeway, but they have a powerful voice on the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), the organization that is pushing the “need” for the SMF. So the Phoenix representative to MAG could put some pressure on MAG and ADOT to do the right thing. It’s a long shot, but the worst that can happen is that PARC gets a lot of publicity so more people become informed about the dangers of the SMF. |
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eNewsletter – published September 26, 2014
| Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released by ADOTLast year, ADOT released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the South Mountain Freeway (SMF), and PARC responded with a scathing 318-page document detailing the problems with ADOT’s freeway plan.On Friday, September 26th, ADOT released their Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), and the public has 60 days to respond.PARC has brought back its experts who examined the DEIS to examine the FEIS to determine how ADOT has addressed the problems identified in the DEIS. These experts will detail the problems with the FEIS document. Our collection of expert commentary, along with other supporting documentation, will be sent back to ADOT before their deadline of November 25th.Working with experts doing a thorough investigation, which is required in preparation for taking ADOT to court, is necessary and expensive. Needless to say, financial support is needed now more than ever! |
| What happens now?After PARC and other members of the public respond to the FEIS, the issue will go back to ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). ADOT and the FHWA will be expected to consider all comments received. Then, ADOT will make a final Record of Decision (ROD) to build or not to build the SMF.ADOT has made clear that they expect the ROD to be made before the end of 2014. Without a doubt, ADOT’s decision will be to build the SMF.Once the ROD is released, it will be time for PARC to take legal action. PARC will get a court injunction to stop any action on building the freeway. The analyses of the DEIS and FEIS will provide the basis for PARC’s strong case as we take ADOT to court. |
| Reminder – Phoenix City Council meeting October 1st at 2:45pmMany PARC members will be speaking during the Citizen Comments time at the next Phoenix City Council meeting. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 1st in the City Council chambers (round building) at 200 W. Jefferson St. While the official meeting begins at 3:00pm, the Citizen Comments time actually begins at 2:45, and any of the 3-minute talks that are not finished before 3:00 may be delayed until after the official part of the meeting (which could be a couple of hours later). Anyone who can be there for support will be greatly appreciated! |
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eNewsletter – published August 26, 2014
A Message from the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)Below is an email PARC received from the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (PIRG):
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PARC and the Festival of Lights Last year, PARC had a booth at the Festival of Lights Kick-Off Party the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We distributed a lot of information, talked with a lot of people, and sold a lot of “Save Ahwatukee” T-shirts. It was a rousing success, so we’re going to do it again! This year’s party will be on Saturday, November 29th. The booths are all on Marketplace adjacent to Desert Foothills Park, and the festivities run from 11am until 7pm. We will have a 10′ X 10′ booth, with setup starting around 7am. Once again, we are looking for volunteers to help in the booth. We will have a lot of information in the booth and a PARC officer will also be in the booth at all times to help answer questions. We would like to have 2 Please let us know if you are interested in helping in the PARC booth. Funding for the fight ahead is very important too. |
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eNewsletter – published August 02, 2014
| PARC preparing for FEIS releaseFirst, ADOT said the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) would be out in February. Then, they received 8000 comments on the Draft EIS (DEIS), including PARC’s 318 page report and the EPA’s severe criticism of their method for determining air quality. These comments made ADOT revise their estimated time of release of the FEIS to late July or early August. Now, they have delayed the release again until “mid to late September.” They still appear to be determined to have a decision before the end of the year.PARC is ready to gear up again as soon as the FEIS is released. Even with all the time ADOT is taking supposedly to respond to the DEIS comments, it is impossible for all the problems with the Pecos Road alignment to be mitigated. Of course, PARC expects the FEIS to contain a lot of “baloney” with severe spin to try to convince readers that ADOT has everything under control. Nothing, however, will get by our experts who will once again review the document. We will have 60 days to respond after the FEIS is released, and we should have no trouble meeting that deadline.PARC fully expects that ADOT will respond to our FEIS comments by indicating that our concerns will be mitigated. After the expected Record of Decision (ROD) – that the SMF will be built in spite of continued substantial objections – PARC will take this issue to court. PARC’s comments on the FEIS will provide the legal grounds for our lawsuit.Stay tuned. PARC really needs your continued support – both moral and financial. The legal steps will undoubtedly take many months, and they will be very expensive. |
| Council visit set for OctoberPARC has talked about making presentations at a Phoenix City Council meeting in September. Because of conflicts, we have gone just a wee bit past September to Wednesday, October 1st. PARC has a good set of presentations already developed and a good list of potential presenters. We will revisit the presentations before the meeting to be sure they are appropriate and that all presenters are able to attend. The FEIS will probably be out by then.The Council meets on Wednesdays at 3:00 PM. Citizen comments are heard starting 15 minutes before and, if necessary, immediately after the meeting. If you are available at that time of day and you would like to be a presenter, PARC would be happy to have you make a 3 minute presentation. You may develop your own or we will develop new presentations as necessary.If you want to attend the Council meeting for support but you do not want to be a presenter, we will be delighted to have your show of support! The Council meets at 200 W Jefferson St. |
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eNewsletter – published May 27, 2014
City Council visit on hold until fall We had hoped to put together a coordinated set of presentations for the Phoenix City Council before they went on their summer recess. We ran out of time to get it all properly coordinated, however, so we are putting it on hold until the Council returns in the fall. By that time, we may have a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to comment on. It will also be closer to elections, so the Mayor and Council members may be more apt to listen! Meanwhile, we have a good set of presentations already prepared, and we have time to work on more. We can also put together a good list of potential presenters. The City Council usually meets on Wednesday afternoons at 1:30 PM. This was one of the problems we had in trying to coordinate with those who volunteered to be presenters. It is at a very difficult time for many to be able to attend. If you are one of those whose schedule is flexible enough to be able to attend a Council meeting and you are interested in being a presenter, please let us know. You can use return email or you can post to our ongoing conversation on our Facebook page. We want to be sure we can be ready to roll as soon as the Council returns to session this fall. If you want to attend the Council meeting for support but you do not want to be a presenter, we will be delighted to have your show of support! It will not be necessary for you to let us know that you will be attending ahead of time. Just keep reading your newsletters. We will announce our planned visit to the Council there. We will also announce it on our Facebook page. |
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| PARC participating in the Silent Auction for the Festival of Lights May 31stThe Festival of Lights (FOL) will be holding their annual Wine & Beer Tasting Festival & Charity Silent Auction on Saturday, May 31, 2014, from 7 to 10 PM at the Foothills Golf Club. Their silent auction is one of their big fundraisers for the year, and it is also a good opportunity for an organization like ours to get visibility.PARC has put together a nice Wine & T-shirt Basket that we have donated to the FOL for their silent auction. If you have an opportunity to attend the event (it costs $40 or $50, depending on where you get your ticket), please look for our basket. You won’t be disappointed by the event. In addition to the silent auction, the evening will feature up to 50 different beers and wines with appetizers from a dozen local restaurants. There will also be a live band. For more information, check out www.folaz.org. | ||||
eNewsletter – published April 11, 2014
| ADOT is persistentADOT continues to say they will produce the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) this summer. Jim Jochim, PARC Treasurer, makes clear in an article in the Ahwatukee Foothills News on April 6th, that ADOT probably cannot reach that goal if they take the more than 8000 public comments they received seriously. It would take a substantial amount of time for ADOT to analyze and properly respond to these public comments, including more than 300 pages of PARC comments. If ADOT chooses to do a “quick and dirty” response to all these comments, that is their prerogative. Unresponsiveness will just give PARC more ammunition for when we take ADOT to court. |
PARC preparing to take our case to the Phoenix City CouncilAfter a flurry of outdoor events through the winter months, PARC will take to mostly indoor activities now. Last year, we spent some effort taking our case to the governing boards for our school districts, and we succeeded in getting support from both the Kyrene and Tempe Union districts for a “no build” on the freeway. Now we have a more daunting challenge – trying to get support from our Phoenix City Council.It seems that Mayor Greg Stanton and our City Council are content with playing the politics of taking no stance on important issues like the SMF. Rather than seeking information on what the SMF would do TO as well as FOR the city, they are content with letting the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and ADOT run the show – something like the tail wagging the dog. Phoenix has a powerful voice in MAG, and ADOT’s role is to implement the regional transportation plan developed by MAG. Yet our City Council is sitting by and letting MAG run amok with plans that would, among other things, engulf our metropolitan area in LA-like pollution.Our Ahwatukee representative on the City Council, Sal DiCiccio, is a member of PARC, yet he makes no public statements about the SMF. Reports are that he takes a pro-freeway stance to freeway supporters. We know he has a conflict of interest because he owns property at Pecos and 40th Street.Mayor Stanton was once the Ahwatukee representative to the City Council. In that capacity, he made the famous statement that the SMF would be built “over my dead body.” Yet now that he is mayor, he is silent. It seems he is just another politician who does not mean what he says. He just wants to say what will garner him the most support. Well, Mayor Stanton, unless you change your tune, you can no longer count on support from Ahwatukee because your silence has betrayed us! And in so doing, you have betrayed all of Phoenix! While ADOT is lying to everyone about what a great thing this SMF would be for our Valley, you and our City Council are supporting the Great South Mountain Freeway Fraud by your silence!Enough! ADOT continues to say what people want to hear – that the SMF would improve traffic congestion and air pollution. But we know those ADOT promises are lies, and we have exposed them in our well-documented comments to ADOT. No matter. ADOT continues to say those things and people continue to believe them because that is what they want to believe. It is time for PARC to make the case to the City Council and insist that they pay attention to the realities of the proposed SMF:
We can back up each of these points and more, and we think it would be most effective if we make our case in a series of 3-minute talks to Mayor Stanton and the City Council, with each 3-miinute segment presented by a different PARC member. If you would like to be a part of this presentation series, please let us know (with a return email, a Facebook post, or other). We are currently expecting a visit to the City Council sometime in May or June. |
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eNewsletter – published March 14, 2014
| Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) due this SummerWe have every reason to believe that ADOT wants to put the FEIS out as quickly as they can. Yet they have delayed the document delivery from February to April and now to mid-summer. This is a good indication that they are having difficulty in finding answers to the 8000 responses they got to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) from last year. Yet it also means that they continue trying to find answers – whether they are reasonable or not – to justify their South Mountain Freeway (SMF). It will be interesting to see what kind of new approach they use in the FEIS to try to make the SMF seem like a good idea. Whatever it is, we will be ready for it.Once the FEIS is out, we will be able to definitively refute ADOT’s best ideas – those that supposedly have fixed all the problems previously identified. That will give us not only the ammunition we need to use in court to stop the freeway, but it will also give us the opportunity to examine possibilities for filing fraud charges against ADOT and/or MAG (the Maricopa Association of Governments) for the dishonest way this freeway has been thrust upon the public.Stay tuned. And don’t forget to donate to help us get ready for our next expensive step – reviewing the FEIS! Mail checks to: PARC, PO Box 50455, Phoenix, AZ 85076-0455 | ||||||||
| Freeway update at public meeting On Wednesday evening, February 19th, PARC provided another of its public updates on the SMF at the Club West HOA Club House. The meeting provided a forum for discussing the current status of the freeway process, future PARC funding, and a question and answer session. | ||||||||
Transportation Day at God’s Garden Preschool PARC had a booth at Transportation Day on Saturday, February 22nd. It was a beautiful day and a great event, with an estimated 3000 to 4000 people in attendance. We continue to find many people who are unaware of the SMF or who think it is a “done deal”, so many new people were informed that day. The preschool raised about $20,000 at the event, and we also raised $300 for PARC. |
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Walk to Save Pecos Road It started out as a rainy day in the early morning of Saturday, March 1st. By the time of the walk, however, it was just a cloudy, nice day and the walk went off without a hitch. The attendance was not what we had hoped for (why are Arizonans so afraid of the rain?), but we still had a great group of volunteers and walkers who showed up along with some who just stopped by to donate to Save Pecos Road. Many thanks to the Arizona Senior Olympics (ASO) for taking care of all the logistics of the event, including getting Pecos Road closed to traffic. The ASO had a great event and so did PARC. We made $700 that morning. |
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More ways to spread the word about PARC and the SMF We are working on even more ways to get the word out about the SMF. Recently, you may have seen PARC information in the Money Mailer. Click to view (printable pdf). |
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eNewsletter – published Feb. 13, 2014
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Sweetheart Hike on Saturday, February 9th stressed love of South Mountain Over 70 people participated in the Sweetheart Hike that PARC organized for the love of the mountain. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the hike. PARC shuttle drivers made sure everyone got to the trailheads and then back to their cars after the hike. PARC’s objectives were to raise some funds and spread the word about the need to save South Mountain from the ill effects of the freeway. We collected over $1300 from hike donations. Not only did the Ahwatukee Foothills News provide front-page coverage before the hike, but ABC Channel 15 had some nice coverage on their news the evening of the hike as well. |
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| PARC to update public about freeway fight at Club West HOA Club HouseOn Wednesday evening, February 19th at 7:00pm in the Club West HOA Club House at 16400 S. 14th Ave., PARC will provide another of their updates to the public regarding the current status of freeway issues. We covered much of this in our last newsletter, but the public meeting gives everyone a chance to see and hear from those in PARC who are engaged in the freeway fight. It also provides a forum for questions and answers.Although no one likes to have to talk about fundraising, it is an important aspect of winning our fight against ADOT. At the meeting, we will discuss the importance of HOA donations as well as individual donations. No one needs to donate a lot as long as a lot donate. | ||||||
Don’t forget the Walk to Save Pecos Road on Saturday, March 1st We provided details about this event in our Save South Mountain newsletter distributed January 13th. You can find a copy of this newsletter on PARC’s website. Don’t forget to get sponsors for the walk. Sponsors can either pledge a certain amount per kilometer or just a lump sum. All sponsor funds raised will go to PARC, so sponsor checks should be made out to PARC. |
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eNewsletter – published Jan. 29, 2014
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Hike on Saturday, January 18th a huge success Over 50 people showed up to hike the Bursera Trail on South Mountain’s Main Ridge South to see where the freeway would destroy the two main South Mountain ridges. After a 2 mile hike up the trail, we came to an overlook where we could see the ends of both the Main Ridge North and the Main Ridge South. The north ridge would be cut through by the South Mountain Freeway 220′ deep and wide enough for 8 lanes of traffic plus a median, shoulders, and ditches to catch falling rocks. The south ridge would get a 190′ deep cut with the same width. The third ridge that would be cut is the Alta Ridge, which would get a 70′ cut, but it was not visible on this hike. |
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The Sweetheart Hike – for the Love of South Mountain is Saturday, February 8thWith the number of people who came to an informal hike (see above), we expect a good turnout for our much more advertised Sweetheart Hike. See our previous newsletter for more details about this hike. |
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| Freeway update – PARC working for youAlthough you have been hearing about the South Mountain Freeway (SMF) for a long time, it’s time for a current status, complete with a reminder of how we got here.When ADOT released their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the SMF in April 2013, PARC brought together several experts in various areas covered by the DEIS. These experts examined the document and provided comments on any issues that they saw. They found more problems with ADOT’s DEIS than anyone expected, and that information was detailed in PARC’s 318-page response to the DEIS.Of particular interest is that PARC’s traffic engineering experts have determined that the SMF would result in no appreciable improvement in traffic congestion anywhere, including on the I-10 and on arterial streets.Further, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) examined the DEIS and came to the same conclusion as PARC’s air quality experts: ADOT does not know how (or chooses not) to do proper air quality modeling. Hence, EPA gave the DEIS its lowest possible rating – inadequate. Correct modeling shows that air pollution would get worse rather than better, particularly in Ahwatukee and the West Valley.PARC’s expert on the health effects of air pollution determined that children attending schools within ½ mile of the SMF would have inhibited lung growth and development and be at high risk for developing or worsening asthma. Ten Ahwatukee schools with over 14,000 students are within ½ mile of the proposed SMF route.Today, Ahwatukee has virtually no threat from hazardous materials. The SMF would bring many gasoline tankers from the 51st Ave “tank farm” as well as numerous other hazmats carrying sulfuric acid and chlorine gas. These would pose a significant threat in case of an accident on the SMF truck bypass. Even ADOT admits that 10% of the 135,000 vehicles on the SMF every day would be trucks – that’s 13,500 trucks per day. It’s not unreasonable to expect that at least 1000 of these would be hazmats. Sooner or later, this is a recipe for disaster – literally. A chlorine gas spill in Ahwatukee could be fatal for thousands of residents, especially those within 1 to 3 miles of the spill. The DEIS doesn’t even have a plan for how to deal with a hazmat disaster on the SMF.Currently, PARC is waiting for ADOT to respond to the more than 8000 comments they received on their DEIS, including the PARC and EPA comments. ADOT must detail in a final EIS (FEIS) how they propose to fix the problems that were identified. This FEIS is now expected around late July or early August of 2014. Once ADOT releases it, PARC will have this FEIS examined again by the experts to see where ADOT’s response is acceptable and where ADOT continues to fall short.The process of closely examining ADOT’s proposal and requiring all problems to be fixed helps all citizens of the Phoenix metropolitan area. If any freeway problems cannot be mitigated, then the freeway should not be built.PARC expects that ADOT will not be able to mitigate all the problems of the SMF nor will they be able to show a need for the freeway. Hence, PARC is preparing to take ADOT to court to stop the SMF and save Pecos Road and South Mountain. PARC believes that stopping this freeway will be a service to all Phoenix area citizens who have a stake in the health and well being of their community and its natural resources.To complete its mission, however, PARC needs to raise a significant amount of additional money. We already spent $100,000 for expert and legal fees just to review the DEIS, and we estimate we will need at least $500,000 total to see this issue all the way through to a “no build” decision. We must once again pay to have the FEIS reviewed, for it is the findings of the DEIS and FEIS reviews that result in ADOT improving their plans for the SMF. These findings also establish the grounds for suing ADOT in court when their plans continue to be unacceptable. Court and legal fees will comprise the remainder of the estimated total cost. | ||||||||||
| What if the SMF is resolved soon and/or PARC raises more money than is needed?Some people still hold out hope that the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) will agree to put the SMF on their land. PARC thinks the chances are extremely slim that the GRIC would change their minds and agree to this. Perhaps more importantly, even if the GRIC wanted the SMF on their land, the chances are a lot slimmer yet that ADOT would be interested. ADOT’s interest is in the current process, which is for the SMF to be built on Pecos Road and through South Mountain. ADOT will likely see this proposal through to its final resting place in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.We cannot completely ignore the possibility that we could have a quicker resolution, however, even if the odds are about the same as the odds of winning the lottery. After all, people do win the lottery. Of course, if we could feel confident that someone in PARC would win the lottery, we wouldn’t need to do any fundraising. We would just wait until the lottery was won and ask the winner to fund PARC with what it needs (it should be a very welcome tax write-off). That’s not very realistic, however, and neither is the possibility that PARC won’t need every penny it raises. Nevertheless, let’s look at the process and the funding expectations.PARC is currently experiencing a steady trickle of donations, mostly due to the fact that we have been continuing to have fund-raising events. This rate of donations is allowing us to maintain our web site, to continue to accept credit card donations, to produce this newsletter, and to continue to prepare for our upcoming fight with ADOT.When ADOT puts out their next document, the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), PARC will again need to have it examined by experts, and that process will cost about another $100,000. So do we wait until the FEIS is released before we try to raise that much money? We believe that to wait would be foolish since it would be nice to have some resources we can count on when we need them.Last year, PARC got significant financial help from several HOAs when funding was needed for reviewing the DEIS. These same HOAs are already considering ways that they may be able to assist with the funding for the FEIS review as well. HOA funding is extremely important, but it is not enough by itself. It is the combination of HOA donations and individual donations that will make our work possible. Are you prepared to help?If you want to wait until after the FEIS has been released to donate, we suggest that you start to put money aside now so you can be prepared to donate promptly when the time comes. We need whatever you can afford and as often as you can afford it. $10, $25, $100, more? Weekly, biweekly, monthly? Can you forgo one latte once a week? One evening per month of taking the family out to dinner? Anything else that you could forgo and never miss?Do you have trouble keeping the money you have put aside for a special purpose? How about opening a savings account just for that purpose? Or keeping an envelope in your desk where you slip money as you save it on a regular basis (but don’t tell anyone else where it is and don’t rob it from time to time either)? Then when the money is needed, you will have it! Or – if you don’t really think that saving will work for you – just donate to PARC on a regular basis!Funding the continued review of the SMF documents is critical for your home, the well-being of your family, and the well-being of Ahwatukee as a community. We are counting on you!Oh, and what would happen if PARC really did end up with a surplus? We would have a meeting of all members (that’s everyone who has donated) to decide. | ||||||||||
eNewsletter – published Jan. 13, 2014
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Would you like to see where the freeway would destroy South Mountain ridges? When: Saturday, January 18th, 9:00am Where: Chandler Blvd at 19th Ave (Chandler dead-ends here) Why: To see where the freeway would destroy 3 ridges of South Mountain Amenities: None Some PARC members will be meeting to hike to the top of the Bursera Trail. From this vantage point, one can see across the top of the west end of South Mountain and see where the freeway is planned to cut through. There is no need to let anyone know if you plan to attend. Just be sure to be there by 9:00. No fees, but also no amenities. Come prepared for a 3.6 mile hike up and down the mountain. It will be moderately strenuous. PARC T-shirts will be available for those who want to donate at that time. |
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Hike with us – for the Love of South MountainWhen: Saturday, February 8th, 8:00amWhere: Starting at the Telegraph Pass trailhead (Desert Foothills Pkwy & 7th St, north of Chandler Blvd)Parking: Desert Foothills Park (on SW Marketplace, just west of Desert Foothills Pkwy and just south of Chandler Blvd)Shuttle Service: Desert Foothills Park to and from trailheadsWhy: Fundraiser for PARC because we want to save South MountainDonation (get a “Save Ahwatukee” T-shirt):
Registration: Prepay donations on our website, include “hike” along with T-shirt size(s) in the description Amenities: Restrooms – yes; Water – yes; Food – no If you like to hike, this is for you. Hikers will start at the Telegraph Pass trailhead, then proceed at their own pace and hike their own distance. The main hike will go up the Telegraph Pass trail, follow the National Trail west, and then come down the Pyramid Trail to end at the 19th Ave and Chandler Blvd trailhead. Hikers who wish something a little less strenuous can come back down the Telegraph Pass trail. Be sure to bring water! Try to be parked at Desert Foothills Park by 7:45am so we can get you to the trailhead for the 8:00 start time. You will hike at your own risk, but PARC volunteers will be around to provide any assistance needed. We will provide shuttle service and water, and we will not leave anyone on the mountain. |
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Walk with us – to Save Pecos Road When: Saturday, March 1st, check-in at 8:00am – event starts at 9:00am Where: Park ‘n’ Ride on Pecos Road at 40th Street Why: Fundraiser for PARC because we want to save Pecos Road Partner: PARC is co-sponsoring this 5K inter-generational walk with the Arizona Senior Olympics (ASO) Registration: Pre-registration up to February 26th on-line at seniorgames.org (select event “Walk to Save Pecos”) or register on-site Fee: $15 for 18 and over, $12 for 10-17 year olds, includes an ASO T-shirt Entry Requirements:
Amenities: Restrooms – yes; Water – yes; Food – no If you like to walk, come and join us to help save Pecos Road. This will be a 5K walk, not a race. It will be at your own pace so you can enjoy the surroundings and contemplate on what Ahwatukee would be like without Pecos Road. Pecos Road is just as important to the ASO as it is to residents of Ahwatukee. Each year the ASO has biking and running events for senior athletes that use Pecos Road as the venue. There is no more suitable venue in the Phoenix area. When the ASO asked PARC to join with them in sponsoring an inter-generational (age 10 and up) walking event on Pecos Road, we jumped at the chance. Pecos Road is important to all of us, and what better way to make that point to the community than while raising some funds to fight against replacing Pecos with a freeway. As co-sponsors of this walking event, all entry fees will go to the ASO, while all sponsor money collected will go to PARC. So it will be very important for PARC if you could get sponsors to donate something for every kilometer you walk. Every little bit helps. PARC will have a booth at the Pecos Park ‘n’ Ride where participants will be able to talk with us and/or purchase PARC “Save Ahwatukee” T-shirts and “Save South Mountain” bumper stickers. PARC will also be assisting with on-site registration, distribution of water to participants, etc. Please join us – and remember to get sponsors! |
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PARC generates media buzz with “Freeway Toxic Zone” rallies at schools On November 20-21,2013, several PARC members demonstrated by carrying signs saying “Freeway Toxic Zone” and handing out “postcards” with information about how and why PARC is fighting the freeway. These demonstrations occurred at Kyrene del Milenio, Kyrene de la Sierra, and Kyrene de la Estrella Elementary Schools as well as Kyrene Akimel A-al Middle School. The postcards were handed to parents as they were dropping their children off at school. Over and over again, PARC demonstrators heard “Thank you for what you are doing” from parents as they took the postcards telling them how to get more information. We only had an occasional heckler. Gail Cochran coordinated the demonstrations for PARC, and she was interviewed by Channel 15. PARC president Pat Lawlis was also present, and she was interviewed by Channel 5 and Channel 12. All 3 channels aired a short segment on the demonstrations. We will press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence! |
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