Amendment lets majority of council OK rezoning

Thursday, March 4, 2010

To the Editor:

There is a very scary proposed amendment on the ballot this year, and you should be very careful if you should choose to follow the recommendation of the Planning Board and vote in favor of it. The first warrant article on the ballot with allow the Town Council the authority to handle all zoning matters that we currently vote on in March. That means that as few as three members of the Council will have the ability to re-zone or change zoning anywhere in Bedford and all you get is a public hearing to express your opinion.

Think about what that means, as few as three Town Councilors could re-zone the property next to yours to allow a slaughter house, or maybe an industrial/chemical plant or how about a junk yard. And guess what, your only recourse is to show up at a hearing and ask them not to. What if their answer is, well, we can get more taxes from that property if we change the zoning, but sorry if it destroys the value of your home. Do you really want three people deciding this and not the 16,000 plus registered voters?

Even the body that will ultimately have this authority, the Bedford Town Council voted 5-2 not to support this article. This could very well open the doors for backroom deals and any number of unintended consequences that are too numerous to list.

Please join the Bedford Town Council in not supporting this amendment on March 9 by voting no on Amendment 1.

MICHAEL SCANLON

Bedford Town Councilor