How important it is for Belmont residents to come together and end the polarization within our town that the current overlay proposals have brought! I encourage our elected officials to unite and fully engage with residents and business owners to expand our commercial base and increase housing development in Belmont Center. An initiative such as this should be celebrated. Instead, the current overlay proposals have resulted in a loss of trust between residents and elected officials. The opponents of Articles 2 and 3 are not anti- development. Unlike the Chair of the Select Board, I believe residents are fully informed and ready to work collaboratively with the town in support of a scaled down development model.
Passage of the Belmont Center Overlay will not:
Provide the amount of revenue for schools that parents anticipated
Result in revenue if the commercial market remains weak
Reduce the amount of future overrides
Allow existing small businesses to survive without specific, realistic plans to mitigate parking and traffic issues
I encourage Town Meeting Members to vote NO on Articles 2 and 3 on March 4 and March 5. For additional information, please check belmontbetterzoning.org
Peg Callanan, Sargent Road