[BikeLongmont] Emery Closure Tactics

[The Stouts]

Dear fellow Longmont cyclists,

I had the opportunity to speak with Sara Levison of city counsel and
thought I would pass on the highlights of our conversation.  Over the
years, Sara has been in the place of a citizen, working to get things
changed in the city.  She has some experience being in our situation.
 Her suggestions for us were as follows.

Write a letter to the editor of our local paper.

Make sure that we get as many of us at the planning and zoning meeting
as possible, all of us sign up to speak, then appoint one speaker for
all of us so that we can have 20 min or so to speak.

Broaden our support base.  Find other groups who might want to keep
Emery open.  For example residents on the east side of Main may need
that street for access to Main when there is a closure for a parade or
special event.  We may want to obtain signatures.

Sara also informed me that Butterball commissioned a study of traffic
on Emery to show that the road is hardly used.  We could do our own
informal count by standing there for a couple hours and counting
cars/bikes.  Our study could throw doubt as the the credibility of
theirs.

Butterball is also claiming that by closing the road and fencing in
the plant, they are improving homeland security by securing our food.
We should be prepared for this claim.

Sara told me that in her experience P/Z and the city counsel tend to
move in favor of the requester and not the folks opposed.  She said
we'll have to treat it a bit like a court case to get it changed.  She
also said that it is likely that this issue will end up before the
city counsel.

After speaking with her, I thought about what my goals are.  I don't
know about what yours might be, but I would like to start a movement
for cycling in Longmont.  I really believe that transportational
cycling has a lot to offer our city.  Making cycling safe and
accessible for all, especially children, improves the quality of life
in our city.  It will make our city more attractive and
community-oriented.  It also promotes homeland security by reducing
our dependance on foreign oil and keeping our citizens healthy.
Transportational cycling keeps our financial resources within our
community as the money you would have spent at the pump, you can spend
at local businesses.

I think that the "politics of addition" is a very powerful tool to
create something inviting and open that people can get excited about
and feel they are part of.  Please contact me if you are interested in
helping to get this movement going!

Best,
Nickie
cycling mommy in Longmont