‘No’ on ballot items

To the Editor:

Vote no on articles 6 and 7 proposing to change East Charlotte Village.

Articles 6 and 7 on the Town Meeting ballot would be big changes for the East Charlotte Village if passed. Here’s why I think you should vote against them:

• Throughout the public hearings of the planning commission and the selectboard, a total of four meetings, the proposed new acreage of the commercial district was 35.7 acres. Now we come to find out the correct acreage is 43.64. A 7.94 acre difference. Is that a reasonable mistake?

• During the public hearings of the planning commission the public asked for a build out of the proposed commercial district so that the impact of the proposed changes could be considered.

• After both meetings had been held, the public was finally told that the build out was 75 housing units. If the correct build out numbers were not known to the planning commission how could they assess the impact of their proposed changes? They couldn’t.

• Now, at this late date the planning commission is backing away from the 75 housing unit build out as fast as they can. In the last public hearing for the selectboard one person said 12, another 30-60… Which is it? We need it to assess the impact (increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic, impact on water table, etc.) of proposed changes.

• Article 7 is proposing that developers be allowed to pump sewage out of the commercial district into other districts to facilitate development. When the selectboard was asked “where is the sewage going to be pumped” no one from the selectboard or planning commission knew. How can they not know if they are proposing this change? This is a significant portion of Article 7 because moving sewage would allow a developer maximum build out.

The function of the selectboard’s hearings was stated “to be the backstop for the planning commission’s work to make sure that there are no errors, inconsistencies or ill prepared proposals for the voters to consider at the ballot.” Because of unanswered questions and inconsistencies and inaccuracies I feel that Articles 6 and 7 should never have made it to the ballot, but here we are.

The best we can do now is to vote it down and protect the integrity of the East Charlotte Village.

David Adsit

Charlotte