In a letter to Clark County Councilor Eileen Quiring, I expressed the concerns my neighbors voiced at an open house on rail-dependent development in the county.
Even in the abstract, this proposal is tearing at the heart of our community. The degree of opposition portrayed by my neighbors was broad-based and palpable.
While the pursuit of jobs is laudable, we can’t pursue that goal recklessly, forsaking the livability that is the end result of one’s labor. For the county to say that it can locate industry anywhere just because there is a rail conveyance nearby (and nearby is a mile away) is outrageous. Following that logic, any highway would serve the same purpose.
The rail transportation of petroleum products and hazardous materials through the county’s residential neighborhoods is unacceptable. It is hard to accept that the cost of improving the railroad would be borne by the residents themselves, the very ones whose home values would be negatively impacted by the development.
