this proposal seems to be headed in the right direction, it is clear Bynum has listed to people and is trying to respond. Even throwing some bones to Turkey Mountain and trail users. But I now have so little faith in our government that I'm not sure I can shake my belief that the dams are the first step in destroying Riverparks and developing as much as the green space in any manner possible.
See, e.g., RIE and the infamous "Restaurant on Turkey Mountain."
It’s quite unfortunate they have chosen to attach any funding for Turkey Mountain to the dams. This seems to be a very well-calculated move to capitalize on the public sentiment shown toward Turkey Mountain over the last year to prevent development and increase the land holdings. I suspect the River Task Force and council know the dam proposal is fairly controversial and are banking on all those who supported keeping Turkey Mountain undeveloped will gladly participate in a little quid pro quo.
Turkey Mountain is unrelated to the dams and should stay unrelated to them.
My understanding is the $9 million is for land acquisition and improvements. The official ask for land acquisition from RPA on their vision proposal was $5.6 million for the land previously slated for development by Simon. I am aware they also had money in their $40+ million total ask for paved trail improvements in the vicinity of Turkey Mountain.
TUWC’s ask was $10 million for land acquisition south of 61st St. plus improvements on existing and future TMUWA holdings. The $9 million is either a place-holder or some combination of asks from RPA, TUWC, and PLAT.
Here’s the reality of the situation with land identified for expansion of the TMUWA: by the time funds can be available from the vision extension, it’s very possible that privately-held land could be sold off for development. The area is very much on the development radar screen. In order to secure land, it will need to be funded from private sources and done fairly soon.
So if a $5.6 million contribution from vision funding was worth a restaurant in return atop Turkey Mountain, I’m wondering what sort of retail ransom our beloved mayor will propose to justify $242.7 million all along our river banks.
Keep in mind, there’s all sort of development which can happen in the vicinity of Zink Dam without a single additional dam down stream. That can happen even without a Zink rebuild.
I believe we should rebuild Zink Dam, I think the “iconic” new pedestrian bridge
could be cool. The Creeks and Jenks can add their dam at their expense then call it good. I don’t see much of a point in a second dam at 49th St. unless the Creeks wish to pay for that to ensure more even flow to their lake.
Even with my affinity for Turkey Mountain and the role I’ve played in trying to preserve it and expand it over the last year, I think I’d have to vote against this package and work to help purchase land around the area via private funding instead. The other part is, I don’t trust that the city wouldn’t become hard up at some point and go on another development spree like this administration has if they purchased land around Turkey Mountain.