HomeMy WebLinkAboutSarah Greenholz_DEC-25Dear John,
The Harvest Roaring Fork Development is a terrible idea.This is one of the last open spaces
along the river and I feel the project should be canceled for these reasons:
The thousands of cars added to Highway 82 and local roads will make our already terrible
traffic even worse. I commute from Carbondale to Basalt and Carbondale to Glenwood
daily. Many days, it takes an hour to get to either location due to traffic volume. I see traffic
accidents often, including cars hitting wildlife on a regular basis.
Now think what would happen if we had a fire in the valley? The traffic is already untenable
during rush hour, but imagine if every single person in the valley had to get into their cars to
flee a fire at the same time. The highway would come to a complete standstill and people
would literally die in their vehicles. I've heard people say that would never happen, but I
lived through the Marshall Fire and many others when we lived in Boulder County. No one
thought a fire could move so fast and cross over Hwy 36. Fortunately, Boulder County is not
in a valley where there is only one good way out and people have multiple options. That is
not an option here. When a wildfire is moving as swiftly as it did during the Marshall Fire,
people only have minutes to get out. We would be sitting ducks in the valley. Adding more
huge developments and more people in this corridor is only going to make it worse.
How about water issues? The development would increase runoff and pollution. The Glen
Canyon Dam is also at a low point and close to hitting the point where it can no longer
produce power. We need to think long and hard about how to manage our water for the
future. Las Vegas is a good example, as they have decreased water use since the 1980's
while increasing their population.
People live here for the beauty and outdoors. Adding a dense development such as this one
will take away from the beauty of the valley. The population in this valley can only increase
so much before we lose the beauty, clean air, and water that we need.
The development will also increase the strain on schools, fire protection, EMS, and utilities.
Development of this scale would endanger wildlife and rid them of breeding and migration
grounds.
We must prioritize sustainable growth that protects natural resources and community well-
being.
Please reject this development and protect the Cattle Creek Confluence.
Thank you,
Sarah Greenholz