To the editor:
I urge Peterborough residents to vote Yes on zoning Amendment 15 to repeal Traditional Neighborhood Overlay Zone II (TNOZ II) and amend TNOZ I. Please do not be fooled by misleading signs contending that a Yes vote will lead to sprawl. It is really the opposite: a Yes vote on Amendment 15 will prevent sprawl! Because TNOZ II permits dense urban development along all Peterborough water and sewer lines (which stretch like tentacles across town, in all directions, into the residential and rural areas outside of the downtown core), it allows far-reaching linear sprawl.
Contrary to its stated criteria of “discouraging extensive development in rural parts of town,” TNOZ II opens large undeveloped parcels of rural land along water and sewer lines (over 180 acres adjacent to Old Dublin Road alone) to this urbanized development. Instead of a minimum lot requirement of three acres for a single-family residence in the rural district, TNOZ II allows only 5,000 square feet or an eighth of an acre, so there could be eight units or more on one acre of land, which means three acres could have 24 or more units, with side and rear setbacks of five feet and front setbacks as small as two feet! How can that possibly be viewed as “discouraging extensive development in rural parts of town” rather than encouraging urbanized sprawl?
In addition, how does it make any sense for the zoning of TNOZ II, which extends far outside the downtown core, to be denser than the current TNOZ I zoning which was designed to be infill around the downtown core? Why wasn’t an urban growth boundary established?
Please prevent rural sprawl! Vote Yes on zoning Amendment 15 to start anew to reach a true community consensus, neighborhood by neighborhood, on how we want our town to look and grow, while also creating opportunities for affordable housing.
Loretta Laurenitis
Peterborough