The Mohave County Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday approved an amendment to the county’s general plan and a zoning use permit that would clear the way for a biodiesel plant north of Kingman, Ariz., on Route 66, reports the Kingman Daily Miner.
Only one commissioner voted against the proposal. It will now go before the county board for final approval at its Oct. 5 meeting.
The commission had two meetings for the proposal to accommodate the dozens of people who wanted to voice their opinions about the biodiesel plant. Various media outlets have said that opinions were split 50/50 of those who supported and those who opposed the plant.
Then there’s this comment:
“People come to Route 66 for a piece of nostalgia and the America of yesteryear. They’re looking for those communities that have that mom and pop feel,” said Tom Spear, a member of the Historic Route 66 Association. The longest, undisturbed stretch of Route 66 runs through the area, he said. The association is not apposed to economic development, but there are more appropriate places for the plant.
If Spear is wanting an “undisturbed” and nostalgic stretch of Route 66, he won’t find it at the Valle Vista subdivision, which is across the railroad tracks and road from where the biodiesel plant would be. Valle Vista is a fairly new subdivision with an 18-hole, heavily irrigated golf course that obviously doesn’t fit with the region’s desert climate. I’ve seen Valle Vista, and there’s nothing nostalgic or natural about it.
Another member of the opposition team chimed in:
“There are more foreigners that know where Kingman is (because of Route 66) than Americans,” said Ron Stephen. “Why ruin it.”
I’ve got news for Stephen: Those thousands of foreign tourists who travel that 90-mile stretch of original Route 66 between Seligman and Kingman aren’t going to bypass it because of one little biodiesel plant. As I said previously, Route 66 is a complex historic highway that contains heavy industry and thousands of businesses as well as scenic vistas and natural splendors.
One person commenting in my previous post about the biodiesel plant made brought up some interesting things:
Sanguine points about the money hookers trying to claim Route 66 is a vestal virgin and must be preserved. I truly believe some of the worst ideas spring from plain folks under the guise of ‘protecting property values’. […] Route 66 has been pimped every which way but loose since day one, now the folks in Arizona have come up with a new way. With their anyplace ‘but our backyard’ they’ve shown us all that being a Route 66 fan has some unusual bedfellows.