Our Taxes. Our Land. Our Voice.

First, I want to apologize for being quiet lately. I’ve been dealing with some health issues, but I’m finally beginning to feel better. Thank you for your patience, your messages, and for continuing to support this effort.

Now I’m asking for one more favor: let’s keep these signatures growing.

Over the next few days, I’ll be updating the petition to focus on one issue—the land. I’ll also include the history of the previous property that made it all the way through the approval process before being denied at the last minute. That history matters because it reminds us that our town has faced these choices before.

This petition isn’t about saying “no” to everything. It’s about asking a simple question:

Should the people who live here have a chance to vote on whether this land should be preserved for the public?

Every year we pay more in taxes. We understand why. We need to support our police officers, firefighters, EMS, schools, roads, and the services that keep our town running. Those are investments in our community.

But shouldn’t our community itself also be an investment?

If our taxes continue to rise, shouldn’t some of those dollars be used to preserve something that belongs to everyone—not just today, but fifty years from now?

For too long, it feels like the conversation begins and ends with what developers are willing to pay. Meanwhile, the people who built this community, raised families here, and continue paying into it are left asking what their investment is preserving.

Open space isn’t something we can rebuild once it’s gone.

We can renovate empty buildings. We can repurpose aging shopping centers. We can transform vacant commercial properties into housing where it makes sense. But once a field, a woodland, or a piece of open land is covered in concrete, it’s gone forever.

Progress and preservation are not enemies. A strong town should be able to accomplish both.

If we’re willing to invest millions in growth, we should also be willing to invest in protecting the places that make people want to live here in the first place.

A town is more than its tax ratables. It’s where children ride their bikes, where grandparents walk, where neighbors meet, where families make memories, and where future generations should still be able to find a quiet place beneath the trees.

When we lose those places, we don’t just lose land.

We lose part of who we are.

We are a suburb, not because of the name on a map, but because of the balance we’ve created between homes, businesses, and open space. Once that balance is gone, we don’t get to buy it back.

So I’m asking for something simple: let the people decide.

If the residents want this land preserved, let them say so. If they don’t, let them say that too. But the choice should belong to the people who live here, pay taxes here, and will leave this town to the next generation.

Please keep sharing the petition. Every signature brings us one step closer to making sure our community has a voice in its own future.