Here are some observations for the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association and its coalition as it considers a legal challenge to new TEP lines along Campbell Avenue.
Why should all TEP customers pay for burying new lines near to your neighborhoods? If they are buried, won't every neighborhood expect the same?
Claiming that Campbell Avenue falls under an obscure Tucson ordinance as a "gateway," where does this gateway begin and end? Specifically, what is the criteria for gateways and which streets have already receive that designation?
The argument that property values will decline due to the power lines is questionable. I grew up in midtown. These are lovely neighborhoods with certified historic status (a status that affords a healthy property tax break). Ironically, their proximity to Banner-University-Medical Center, the entity that requires extra power from the new lines, enhances their home values.
People are also reading…
This leads to the question, if not underground, where should such lines go in the future? On the southside? Let's all stand for environmental justice.
Debbie Collazo
West side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
