At the March 1 Planning Board meeting, Wellington Hill neighborhood residents wear red in solidarity.
In a nod to the power of resident-led community organizing, the residents of the Wellington Hill neighborhood banded together to successfully defy a developer who wanted to build an out-of-place 16-pump gas station on Edward J. Roy Drive.
(The proposal itself was detailed in this space back in February).
Since taking office in January, no other issue has generated near as many calls and emails from the residents of Ward 2 as this proposal. And of the 50-plus people who reached out to me, all save one were adamantly opposed to it.
After two public hearings and a subsequent a business meeting that ended in a 3-3 tie, the Planning Board voted 4-3 on March 14 to deny the developer a conditional use permit for the gas station, effectively killing the project as envisioned.
That said, the developer can still appeal the Planning Board decision to Superior Court. He can also propose a similar project for this parcel as long as it doesn’t include gas pumps. As such, I will be keeping a close eye on things.
But a victory is a victory and the residents of the Wellington Hill neighborhood are to be commended for their diligence, their passion, and their hard work. And in addition to stopping a gas station in their neighborhood, they also built community and got to know their neighbors better, which is always a good thing.