A copy of the Environmental Notification Form Certificate included in the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Interstate Crossing Industrial Park at 142 Clinton St. in Shrewsbury, refers to the “fifty years useful life identified for both warehouses.” Surely the town can do better. Endangering the town’s aquifer (a possibly eternal natural resource for Central New England), air quality throughout the town, and diminishing quality of life and property values for surrounding neighborhoods, for projects with a fifty-year life expectancy (and as yet unknown tenants) hardly seems worth it.
With GFI partners seemingly unlimited resources, surely something of more practical and aesthetic value, something more aligned with the expressed hope in the town’s masterplan for the northwest corner of town, can be planned. If the proponent were to provide a solar farm for appropriately named Sun Valley, SELCO could probably power a substantial portion of the town.
Should the developer feel the need to build something large (the proposed warehouses would encompass several football fields) an indoor sports facility complete with skating, a pool, indoor soccer field, and amenities, would complement nearby Shrewsbury High School’s athletic offerings, and indeed benefit the whole town, making Shrewsbury a destination for families, not parades of diesel tractor trailers. Facilities like these might even last longer than fifty years.
A development that would directly benefit residents while protecting our environment would meet with far less opposition. Shrewsbury can “Build Better.”
Sincerely,
Scott E. Nolan
Shrewsbury
