Letter: Why Williamstown's Zoning Proposals Should be Tabled

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to Peter Beck's letter of June 12, which argues that at town meeting, Williamstown residents should "discuss" the 10 articles the Planning Board has put forward and then vote them up or down.

Beck's suggestion makes sense only if you've never been to a town meeting. There simply isn't time for several hundred people to vote on the town budget and many other issues and then, after all that is done, discuss 10 separate zoning articles.

Had the Planning Board actually been interested in public discussion of its proposals, it would have held a series of meetings for this purpose months ago. Instead, it rushed the articles through with almost no opportunity for members of the public to offer input of any kind.

More discussion of the proposed articles is, in fact, a good idea. The proposals are quite complicated, and the Planning Board has done virtually no analysis of their potential impacts. But town meeting is not the right place for this discussion, which is why most – perhaps even all – of the articles ought to be tabled.

Elizabeth Kolbert
Williamstown, Mass.

Mount Greylock Regional School District 2nd Quarter Honor Roll