To the Editor:
While we’re disappointed the proposal to amend 830-G has been tabled, we are not surprised and we’re certainly not discouraged.
By way of a quick background, Citizens for Easton supported an amendment to 830-G — affordable housing — which would have exempted those towns in which more than 70 percent of their surface land lies within the watershed. The amendment was a good idea, and we’re gratified that some of our elected members supported the amendment, and we thank them.
But life here goes on, and there will hopefully be some support for this in the future. But if there is not, that’s fine too. Citizens for Easton was founded by a few dedicated people many years ago who cared about their town, and they cared especially for those wild places that comprised their town. They recognized that some day in the future, there would be attempts to develop those woodlands simply because people needed places to live.
CFE recognized that too, and certainly did not oppose those efforts.
Nevertheless, those CFE founders realized there comes a time when you have to make a stand for something, and for them, that was the preservation of those wild places. There was nothing about “politics” involved in those early initiatives and there was certainly nothing about “politics” in our support of this amendment. CFE is unaffiliated with any political group and always has been. That doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions — of course we do — but those have nothing to do with our mission.
Our mission is simple: We care about the environment, we care about the watershed, and we care about Easton’s century-old mandate to protect that watershed.
Above all, we care about those wild places.
Again, we thank our supporters, and we thank those who supported this amendment. And yes, we thank those who opposed it too. They’re doing what they believe is right. We at CFE are doing the same.
Verne Gay, president, Citizens for Easton
