VCR flex area could be for medical, senior uses

The forum on Jan. 4 addressed several important issues related to the Village at Crystal River: projected sales tax revenue to the town, the PIF, the town's financial condition, the timing of the residential development, etc. I hope all of the listeners, whether they were in person, listening or watching, had more facts about VCR at the end of the forum than they did prior to it.

One of the subjects that I hoped would have been addressed was the flex zone. This plus-or-minus 3-acre parcel offers a wide range of opportunities I think are very realistic and would each be great assets to the town.

These uses include any medical related uses, both clinical and otherwise, and senior citizen-related support services. The parcel cannot be developed as residential, but the parcel across the street, Lot 7, is zoned for residential. A portion of this lot could be developed into senior housing, either affordable or market rate, which would complement any senior related support service. The parcel could also be developed for lodging.

In addition, one of its approved uses includes any retail use. Due to its location at the western edge of the property, it would take a special retail use to locate on a parcel not fronting or maybe even visible from Highway 133, but it is of a size that a 25,000 to 30,000-square-foot user could locate there.

This retail use could generate another $75,000 to $90,000 in sales tax revenue to the town. However, just to be conservative, I did not assume any new sales tax revenue would be generated from this parcel. Special uses for the flex zone include a school and a light manufacturing facility with a retail component at the front of the building.

As you can see, the fact that VCR includes a flex zone is a huge advantage to the development. Although it is flexible, the PUD language spells out specifically what general uses can go on the parcel.

I hope this letter shows what a huge opportunity this parcel has for the entire development and the town.

Rich Schierburg

Crystal River Market Place LLC

Carbondale

Turn to Planned Parenthood for cervical cancer screening

January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. As Colorado's leading women's health care provider and advocate, Planned Parenthood urges women to visit their health care providers to receive a preventive checkup that includes a cervical cancer screening. The new year is the perfect opportunity to see if you're due for a checkup.

Every year, about 13,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and about 4,000 American women die of the disease.

Because they are less likely to have health insurance and therefore less access to early screening and treatment, Latinas and black women are more likely to develop and die of cervical cancer.

Worldwide, cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among women and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths among women.

The good news is that cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. When caught early, the five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent. Regular cervical cancer screenings and preventive care such as the HPV vaccine are the keys to combating cervical cancer.

Planned Parenthood's Glenwood Springs health center offers routine cervical cancer screenings and the HPV vaccine, which protects against the types of HPV that most often cause cervical cancer. Last year alone, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains provided more than 12,600 cervical cancer screenings to women across Colorado.

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains is proud to be the nonprofit health care provider for more than 120,000 people in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Southern Nevada. We work every day to keep women healthy, and our doors are open to everyone.

Rebecca Murray, manager

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains

Glenwood Springs