OPINION — I look at the beauty of the red rock mountains along Snow Canyon Parkway in the St. George and Santa Clara-Ivins area, and I don’t think I’ve seen anything so spectacular.

Tourists from all over the country and beyond come to enjoy the majestic beauty of this area. The majority of this area should be a protected preserve. Have environmental impact studies and reports been performed? Are there animals and plants that need protection? The area is known for flooding. Are we prepared?

Unfortunately, commercial development along Snow Canyon Parkway is starting to make the area look like a Bentley with bumper stickers attached. We are seeing strip centers, the incoming Black Desert Resort and grocery stores taking the beauty away from this spectacular area.

City leaders should consider slow growth initiatives in this area, or before long we will ruin one of the best parts of Southern Utah. Too many homes, businesses and traffic are taking away the beauty here.

I understand government leaders like the revenue of sales and property taxes, but at what cost? Wildlife, beauty, traffic and crime will all be the end-result of rapid development. This will increase our taxes as we have to expand public safety and provide road/infrastructure improvements. Taxes and special assessments will be the end result.

I ask residents to join me and voice your concerns to city leaders to slow growth initiatives before it’s too late.

There are other areas that are better suited to for this growth.

If you owned a Bentley, would you put a bumper sticker on it?

Submitted by SAM DiGIOVANNA, St. George.

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