As a frequent visitor to Grand Junction, I am always impressed when I come out of De Beque Canyon and get the first view of your beautiful valley. No matter the time of year, there is always a view to inspire.

The first greening of the globe willows, the blossoming of the fruit trees, the drama of growers vs. the frost, fruit crops ripening and all of the celebrations that accompany the long, hard nuts and bolts of harvest. Fat tire festivals, wine country tours, the monument, country jam, rock jam, JUCO, Mesa State, vibrant downtown core, etc. The list goes on and on.

Put together with great choices for shopping, a solid core of businesses supplying the needs of the I-70 corridor, the new parkway and the powerful economic engine of the energy industry, it is hard not to recognize the future is bright. Grand Junction is the capital of the western slope, leading economically, intellectually, socially and hopefully, environmentally.

So it is with great interest that I have followed the zoning issues surrounding the Colorado River and the long range vision of developing a trail system to further enhance the lives of the residents and the image of the city in general.

City council has taken a short-sighted position regarding the zoning of the Brady property. The petition now being circulated will allow the voters to make a decision on this issue in the near future and take the longer-range view of protecting the Colorado River frontage from industrialization.

Voting for mixed-use zoning will be the next step on the path to the river trails project completion and a statement of commitment to the future of your beautiful valley. Please don’t allow short sightedness to pave paradise just to put up an industrial parking lot.

JONATHAN LEPISTO
New Castle

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 8:45 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.