I’m tired of all the CCA letters addressed to the editor by the same people. They argue that CCA conservation achievements are of great benefit to Charlestown as a whole.
A while ago Warren Buffett wrote an interesting article: What kind of donations are really legal tax deductions? A donation to a food bank supports society. Donating to your alma mater is saving your life. He thought lifestyle-sustaining donations should be questioned more.
I believe that the CCA’s so-called conservation work is really an effort to conserve their way of life. This is an effort to gate up Charlestown and make it exclusive. Between city, state, and federal lands, towns already have enough open space (rural) for public good. So buying land to keep it off the market is a waste of taxpayer money. I am just protecting this rich lifestyle. As I may be imagining, the CCA enclave seems to be surrounded (protected) by the reserves we all paid for.
I have never seen an ordinance by a town on a plan as long as Charlestown’s Land Development and Subdivision Regulation, published in The Westerly Sun on October 17th. Zoning. Combine four pages of the newspaper on planning and two of his on zoning for a total of six pages, and you might get a better idea of what CCA is trying to sneak into land use regulations. Some towns have combined planning and zoning into his one committee to avoid this trick of dividing and confusing the public. We believe that these two ordinances clearly show that the CCA is giving permission intentionally. protect their lifestyle. There is so much confusion between these two ordinances that the Planning Commission (Ruth Platner, Chairman) and the Zoning Commission (Cliff Vanover, a member of Platner and a significant other), both managed by the CCA, Depending, you can always find a problem with permissions.
I will admit that I have a nice house on a nice street south of Route 1. There is a CCA attitude of “I got mine, ruin the rest of you.” I don’t want to fall into that category. Give others, not just a few, the chance to enjoy the country atmosphere.
Stephen J. Williams
charlestown
