The Town of Hartwick now has a golden opportunity dangling before it: The Planning Board has asked for a moratorium on non-residential development while a comprehensive plan is developed.

It’s important that residents make their views on the moratorium heard. The Town Board is fond of quoting a "silent majority" which they apparently believe supports runaway, uncoordinated and uncontrolled commercial development in the town, despite its negative effects on residents’ quality of life.

They have consistently ignored public opinion on this issue, even after hearing overwhelming support for a moratorium in the spring of 2006.

Members of the Board have also spoken against a moratorium because a past moratorium did not lead to a good comprehensive plan and land use plan. The moratorium wasn’t at fault for that failure: It was a failure of those charged with making the plan! Our current Board is traveling down the same pathway to failure. After nearly a year of meetings and discussion, they haven’t even identified the milestones to be reached in the planning process, nor put forth a timetable to achieve those important goals.

Now is the time to take a lesson from our county’s budget fiasco and get professional help in the planning process. We need to acknowledge that our well intentioned but amateur Board members need the help of a professional planner to get this important task done in a way that best serves the residents of our town.

Let’s make our voices heard at the next Town Board meeting on Monday, Feb. 12. Let the Town Board know you support a sensible way forward: A one-year moratorium on non-residential development coupled with a professionally driven planning process with input from members of the Board and the public alike.

Eric Bravin

Hartwick

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