The resolution of the Ruby Hill Park power line issue was for the best.
Though it was described as a compromise by some, it really was not much of one. Xcel Energy got its variance and will be able to install taller power poles through the park.
The neighborhood, which wanted the power company to pay for burying the lines underground, got nowhere with that request. Power company officials agreed to put the lines underground in the future if someone else pays for it, but they’ve offered to do that from the beginning.
The temptation would be to say that it was all for naught. But the debate was valuable in bringing the matter to the attention of the public, the mayor and the City Council.
And it may result in a 2008 ballot question that would ask Denver voters whether they’d be willing to pay for burying power lines that cut through a dozen of Denver’s parks.
A ballot question is a wise solution. The council had met Monday night to decide whether to grant Xcel a variance to a local law protecting Denver’s mountain vistas, a so-called view plane ordinance.
If the council had denied the request in an effort to force the company to pay for burying the Ruby Hill power lines, the $4 million cost of the project assuredly would have been passed on to rate-payers across Xcel’s customer base.
That would amount to a tax decided on by the council, and it wouldn’t be right. It also likely would result in a protracted and expensive legal battle that would add to those costs.
Putting the matter to voters is the fairest way to decide whether Denverites consider the issue important enough to tax themselves over.
We’re glad the council delayed the matter for six weeks to allow valuable public discussion. It gave everyone a chance to have their say on this politically volatile issue. It also allowed for the development of a potentially broader solution in the form of a ballot question.
In short, the process worked the way it should have, and we hope to see the issue progress with the same spirit of civility and fairness.
