Here is the EMC build-out plan (thanks to the Southborough Conservation Commission). The plan is on hold "due to the economy" but look where one of the buildings ends up.
Compare to the previous (click here).The fact that the plan is "on hold" is sort of confusing. For example it makes you want to bet on the economy continuing to be poor. But more, how to get excited about a potential threat rather than an actual one? I don't see as it matters in theory, it means we have time to try to do the right thing. But practically, it will be hard to get people engaged in this.
I want to say parenthetically that the only fair outcome that I can see is for someone to buy these sites from EMC and give them to the town. Maybe this is a great time to buy the real estate?
ReplyDeleteAlso: how do they get a permit to build across a wetland?
ReplyDeletePerhaps it has something to do with money...
ReplyDeleteThe "hiatus" seems an ideal opportunity to get EMC to modify the site plan so as to avoid disturbing rock structures, and instead, incorporate them as landscape features. They might be amenable to this and it certainly is worth a try.
ReplyDeletePwax -- under Mass. law you can cross wetlands (ie. for a road) but you can't fill and build on them except in pretty narrow cases. Mass. has very good wetland protection laws. Again, I think the first and most productive approach here is to talk to EMC about preserving and incorporating the rock sites as landscape features within the "campus" they want to build.
ReplyDeletecan we organize a tour so we can see these piles and further brainstorm a plan?
ReplyDeleteKeith
Pwax -- does EMC have all their local planning board and conservation commission permits for this project yet?
ReplyDeleteSeems the answer is "yes" but it looks like they will need to get re-permitted before they can get started.
ReplyDelete