To the Editor:
Wake up Manchester!
September 2028: The historic yellow Mariposa barn on Elm Street is destroyed by fire. The property is sold at a very high price to a high-end developer. Now a luxury 4-story 20-unit apartment building is going up, with a parking garage just below ground level. A flood protection moat is being built around the building to shield vehicles from the bi-monthly high tides that continue to inundate the dead- end street ... now that our town administrator’s dream of receiving millions of dollars in FEMA grants came through and the newly enlarged culvert under Central Street (RT 127) is bringing the increasing and incredibly high tides all the way down Elm Street to its dead-end.
Over on Morse Court another high-rise luxury apartment building is being erected with plans for two other similar four-story buildings on this old precious lane. Now that tiny dead-end street, once filled with affordable apartments in those small historic houses is quickly becoming a forgotten fragment of Manchester’s past village experience.
Sadly… these new high rise massive apartments… renting for $10K to $12K (or more) per month… are similar to those 13 five-bedroom condos Windover smashed together in 2014 to create Elm Street Village (now called Saw Mill Circle). Back in 2024… those massive town-houses only rented for $8,400/ month.
September 2024: This above horror show is going to take place, my friends… if our current MBTA sub-committee has their way. Today a group of hand-selected folks, named the MBTA special sub-committee, who ALL live in those “other;” those nice parts of Manchester. You know … Boardman Ave., Tuck’s Point Rd., Smith’s Point, Old Neck Rd. … you know, those nice neighborhoods …
These sub-committee folks are happily working hard to quickly comply with any new state mandates that big time developers shove through the Massachusetts Legislature. It’s true…. Our state senator and state representative say they had no idea these high-rise developers’ plan had been tucked into a huge piece of housing legislation… when they voted for this so-called MBTA housing bill that would strip certain neighborhoods in Manchester and other cities and towns served by the MBTA… of their local zoning protection.
Sadly, this so-called MBTA housing mandate does not require towns to build low-income; nor senior housing. Instead … ALL of the units in these high-rise four-story buildings MUST be at least two bedrooms … they cannot be one-bedroom or studio units!! And Manchester’s NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) MBTA sub-committee is running around deciding which less-beautiful parts of our village will now be able to be trashed. These committee members fear that if the town does not comply… these committee members with their $3-$15 million properties, might have to pay 7% more taxes each year; a current possibility if towns do not comply with this developers’ dream bill… as the state has threatened to withhold state grants from those municipalities that refuse to comply with this apartheid law.
Thankfully the towns of Milton and Holden, MA both have town administrators or managers and thoughtful towns people who are strong enough to say “NO” to this ludicrous piece of legislation. Next month… on October 7th, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is scheduled to rule on this so-called MBTA law… the court should therefore soon tell us whether they believe this luxury apartment development scheme can continue to divide over 150 cities and towns in the Commonwealth…into the “HAVES” and the “HAVE NOTS”.
We have enough wars and civil conflicts already going on around the world. If this MBTA boondoggle is allowed to go through in Manchester, Rockport and other small towns, civil unrest may break out here and there as well. It is not nice when one’s property is trashed by the wealthy of the town… while their own more expensive properties remain protected by town zoning.
Now a whole lot of other questions will raise their heads. Will those of us within and adjacent to these trashed” MBTA neighborhoods” be exempt from town real estate taxes? What is that saying … “No taxation without representation?”
Please vote NO to this MBTA boondoggle at our upcoming special town meeting.
