I watched a good portion of last night's City Council hearing on the Brady Trucking property re-zoning, and I was as divided about it as Council seemed to be.
I belong to the Western Colorado Congress, and received postcards and e-mails alerting me to the importance of this decision to the quality of the riverfront that so much effort has been put toward to reclaim the beauty and usefulness of this unique portion of our area.
The initial arguments presented by WCC and others are convincing in the context that a return to industrial uses for riverfront land, at least in this area, is questionable at best, and ridiculous at worst.
The other side of this came to me upon the realization that the land in question includes the site of the former Grand Valley By-Products rendering plant. For me, any chance of getting this land reclaimed for any kind of practical use, especially if the private sector is footing the bulk of the costs, has to be looked at as a potential improvement until proven otherwise.
Insuring the integrity of our riverfront experience as it pertains to nature and recreation is very important. Can this intended use co-exist with that? The jury is still out, and that's a good thing. Time for win-win.
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