Everyone in Hudson will lose
When the attorney for the Friels, Mr. Leonard, spoke at the September 9th Hudson Planning Board meeting, he suggested that two members of the Hudson Planning Board recuse themselves from the case of the Hudson Logistics Center (HLC) proposal currently seeking Planning Board approval.
For those of you not familiar with the HLC proposal, it seeks to build two massive Amazon warehouses and a third massive warehouse for a not-yet-existent tenant on the land currently occupied by the Green Meadow golf course. The warehouses would total 2.5 million sq ft and be up to 40 ft tall. The project would permanently and irrevocably alter 400 acres of greenspace, replacing grasslands and destroying wetlands that serve as habitat for (some endanagered) wildlife residing in/along the Merrimack River. The development would also bring traffic, diesel air/water run-off pollution, and 24/7 noise to Hudson. More information is available at SaveHudsonNH.org, a grassroots organization of concerned Hudson citizens.
Mr. Leonard suggested that the two Board members recuse themselves under New Hampshire’s RSA 673:14 code. Not only is it long past the time to raise this issue, which should have been raised before the Planning Board began the approval process six months ago, but the code states that only abutters are automatically disqualified from serving on such a case.
Neither of the two Board Members that Mr. Leonard named are abutters to the golf course and, though Mr. Leonard said he knew that, he persisted in stating that simply because they live in the neighborhood, they should recuse themselves.
If everyone who lives in the neighborhood of the golf course must recuse themselves, it is only a short leap to requiring that all residents in the town of Hudson recuse themselves from even serving on the Planning Board in this case-because those citizens of Hudson might be biased in favor of the right to enjoy living on their own properties! Based on that notion, citizens of Hudson could never defend their rights, which would give a blank check to every developer to ever bring a proposal before our Planning Board!
Isn’t the Hudson Planning Board, much like our Board of Selectman, supposed to be representing the concerns of the Hudson taxpayers? Maybe that’s what they were trying to do September 9th when they disputed Mr. Leonard’s contention? Clearly Mr. Leonard prefers to skew the makeup of the board, trying to remove anyone who might be against the Hillwood proposal, in order to obtain approval, making a mockery of representative government.
While direct abutters and people in the nearby neighborhood may appear to have the most to lose if the HLC is approved, the truth is that everyone in Hudson will lose. We will lose the enjoyment of being outdoors in our quiet little town with the fresh clean air, clean water, wildlife, and natural beauty that contribute greatly to our quality of life.