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Owe a Full Accounting

A few weeks ago, I had occasion to drive along Hubbard Road. I noticed large piles of freshly tilled earth spread over the site that is being prepared for the erection of two mammoth multi-story buildings that will house 100 one-bedroom units of affordable housing. These four-story buildings, located in an industrial zone, will lie directly across from the school bus depot and the Safety Zone factory. The property is also adjacent to wetlands and the West River.

I wondered why future tenants would choose to live in such an unwelcome and isolated place where they would be exposed to the noise of school buses entering and exiting the depot twice daily while spewing toxic exhaust fumes into their air space. As citizens of Guilford, we value our expansive, healthful green spaces and innumerable lofty trees, environmental treasures that future Hubbard Road dwellers would be denied. Sketches of the property, available for public review, show no evidence of green space, possibly because much of the property is allocated to paved walkways and parking spaces.

The COVID pandemic interfered with a more fulsome engagement of our citizens in decisions regarding the Hubbard Road development. I believe our elected leaders and the property’s landowners and developers owe our fellow citizens a full accounting of their decision to place domestic housing in an industrial zone and their plans for the protection of adjacent wetlands and the West River.

Warren A. Andiman

Guilford