To the editor:
One of the Great Barrington Selectboard candidates wants to turn the fairgrounds into an industrial park. Why isn’t that headline news?
All three candidates want to rein in marijuana, and all three would have voted against the pot farm on Vandeusenville Road. That’s good news that came out during the candidates’ forum last week.
But one of the candidates, Garfield Reed, said he would like to see the fairgrounds become an industrial park. “We have enough parks,” he said, “I want to see an industrial park there.” He really said that. Whether or not one thinks we have enough parks, an industrial park does not belong in downtown Great Barrington. Imagine what that end of town would look like. Imagine the traffic.
Just as alarming, Mr. Reed also said (at a Planning Board meeting last October) that he would like to see the historic Christian Science Church building (by the police station) torn down and replaced by a big box store. Big, ugly, and the end of how many local businesses?
Does anyone think those are good ideas? If elected, he would try to change the nature and character of our town.
There are three candidates for Selectboard. I’m voting for the other two.
Mary Lewis
Great Barrington
