Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Paseo Lawsuit Stopped Cold; Judge Says City Has Met Burden To Minimize Harm

By Andrea Schoellkopf
Journal Staff Writer
    A state district judge Tuesday tossed a lawsuit seeking to prevent construction of the controversial Paseo del Norte extension through the petroglyphs on the West Side.
    Judge Linda Vanzi declared the city has met its burden to minimize harm from the Paseo extension to the area, ending a year-old lawsuit by opponents of the road.
    Vanzi rejected a motion by the plaintiffs to halt construction— which began last week— before ruling in the city's favor to end the case.
    In October, she had issued a ruling that found there were no feasible alternatives to the Paseo alignment.
    "I'm very, very pleased with this ruling," said John Castillo, the city's director of municipal development, calling it a success for Mayor Martin Chávez's transportation projects.
    City attorneys had submitted "substantial" evidence before the hearing, detailing steps taken to minimize harm to the area.
    New attorneys for the plaintiffs— including three Washington, D.C., lawyers and a local member of the Sierra Club— argued that the city had not considered tunneling under the escarpment, which could have avoided the petroglyphs.
    In arguing against the city's plan, attorney Andrea Ferster said it is clear that "if you cut a 167-foot gash into the escarpment— the size of 13 lanes— you will be creating a severe irreparable injury that will be reduced by a tunnel."
    Vanzi said the plaintiffs, "after almost a year" were just now coming forward to seek relief, and only recently began the discovery process to seek evidence about the process the city followed.
    "The defense proved the tunnel option was evaluated," Vanzi told the court.
    Some $4.4 million of the $14.5 million budgeted for the road is going toward minimizing harm to the area, including the use of quiet asphalt, berms along the sides, $1.1 million in artwork, archaeological expertise and the relocation of the petroglyphs and other significant boulders, said assistant city attorney Greg Smith.
    The city moved the petroglyphs out of the path in late December.
    Plaintiffs were quiet after the ruling.
    "I'm hurt," said plaintiff John Archuleta, whose house faces the future road's site. "I believe the city, they put their head down. If you were in the direction they were running, you (were) going to get run over."
    Archuleta was one of four individuals remaining in the lawsuit, along with the Sierra Club and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
    Other parties, including Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality, the SouthWest Organizing Project and Economic Justice and the New Mexico Archaeological Council Inc., were allowed to withdraw from the case Tuesday, along with attorneys from the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. The city did not oppose the withdrawal.
    Archuleta, an Apache, testified that the area has been spiritual for him since he was a child and that the ground itself is sacred to him.
    When Smith asked if the road leading to his West Side home was destroying sacred ground, he said that was a difficult question to answer and that he was trying to prevent further damage to the area.
    Construction on the 1.5-mile Paseo extension began last week from Golf Course to Kimmick. The four-lane road had been scaled back to two paved lanes, at this point, so a bridge could be built to avoid the Piedras Marcadas Arroyo, as well as to circumvent a lengthy approval process with the Army Corps of Engineers for a culvert that had been proposed.
    The road is scheduled for completion in a year.
    "We're grateful and hope at least the Army Corps of Engineers will take note the court recognized the city's efforts to mitigate impact on these historic sites," Chávez said in a prepared statement.