Strength in Numbers

The Zoning Board will meet on Monday, May 20 at 7:00 PM (Town Hall, 2nd floor) to deliberate the motions to reconsider their approval of the church’s application. The Ackers (on behalf of the abutters and neighbors) have filed to overturn the decision completely. The church has filed to overturn the toothless conditions imposed by the ZBA in their approval. The church calls the conditions “oppressive” and they are asking for unrestricted use of the property – as many people as they can fit, any time of day, any day of the week.

The Board meeting is open to the public but it is a deliberative session only, and we don’t expect that there will be any opportunity for public comment . Despite that, we still think it is important to show up, and show support. During one of the previous meetings, one of the ZBA members said that “the neighbors seem to think the area is what you can see from the end of the Acker’s driveway”. We need to make sure the board understands that the negative impacts of this extend way past the immediate abutters. The Board may say “NO” anyway, but it will be a lot harder for them to say no to a room full of their friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

The overwhelming support for this cause is coming from all over town:

• 18 residents from all around town wrote letters to the Zoning Board in support of the Acker’s motion
• 50 yard signs are out and about- I’ve seen them all the way from Hanover HS to Etna Village
• 55 separate individuals have made donations – either to the GoFundMe, or the PayPal account, or by mailing checks directly to our attorney (you can add to that total by using the “Donate Now” feature at the top of this page)
• 609 unique visitors have read 1258 pages of this blog since May 1

Whatever decision the Board makes on Monday, there will still be many more chapters to write. Please attend the meeting if you can, and please help spread the word to others around town. Our strength is in our numbers.