To the editor:
Pedro Pachano’s comments at the July 23 Great Barrington Planning Board meeting were shocking and disturbing. During a discussion about Berkshire Aviation’s plans to build six industrial buildings in a residential neighborhood, Mr. Pachano, a board member, said that the out-of-state owners of the airport should object to the surrounding residences.
A bit of context: Mr. Pachano was talking about pre-existing uses in the Seekonk Cross neighborhood. The airport is a non-conforming use, and we residents have good reason to be deeply concerned about their newest plans for our neighborhood.
Mr. Pachano apparently thinks that the age of buildings, not the concerns of human beings, is what matters. For the record — and to address Mr. Pachano’s deeply twisted logic — my house near the airport is 200 years old. Several other houses in the neighborhood pre-date aviation itself. And some families have lived in the neighborhood for generations.
Mr. Pachano obviously has no capacity to evaluate neighborhood characteristics and does not belong on a planning board or other public committee that addresses land use and design.
But the greater point is that Pedro Pachano has no place in government and public service, at all. Homeowners are human beings. People matter more than planes and other objects. Mr. Pachano neither values nor understands this fundamental tenet of American democracy.
He is not the type of person who should be making critical judgments about the future of Great Barrington.
He should resign immediately.
Marcia Stamell
Great Barrington
