By Douglas J. Wolf , Pinal County assessor | Special to the Arizona Daily Star
I was very disappointed to read Tim Steller’s May 12th story on the Union Pacific Classification Yard near Red Rock.
Mr. Steller repeats several falsehoods throughout his story, and he should have done a better job of checking the facts.
As the assessor of Pinal County, the primary task of my office is to determine property values. It is a clear that the completion of the Union Pacific Red Rock facility would actually increase the value of adjacent land, including the remaining state trust land in the area. If this land were privately held, the owner would surely jump at the chance to have one of the most stable and well-respected companies in America develop this beneficial project.
The other myths repeated in the story are that the project would somehow create issues for access to surrounding property and impact drainage patterns. Park Link Road lies on the east side of the proposed site and would provide ample access to the remaining trust land in the area. Since most of the rail yard would be built on land already leveled for agriculture, it is hard to imagine how the development could possibly impact drainage.
