Letter to the editor: Not just a pretty view

This week was All Soul’s Day or Dios de los Muertos. In our family, we celebrate it by bringing out old photos of our deceased loved ones and recounting memories of them over the kitchen table — what they taught us, how they raised us, what we remember. It’s a day to remember they are still with us. 

I attended the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission public hearing Wednesday night after some town residents expressed concern about the proposed seven-house development on a single-family lot on Mahoney’s Lane. While I intuited that the main reason for such strong opposition to this project was because it would block water views, I now understand the concerns go far beyond the aesthetic. 

Alarmingly, the project involves significant tree removal. It does not mitigate effects of increased stormwater runoff, damage to shellfish beds, or wildlife habitat destruction. The oysters, heron, seabirds and such creatures with whom we share this town cannot speak for themselves. The trees are at our mercy. 

Increased wetlands protections regulations are on the desks of our state representatives, hence the rush to apply for permits. Mattapoisett does not yet have any wetlands protection bylaws of its own. We don’t have to wait for the law to change to tell us what stewardship looks like: The Conservation Commission can impose conditions on developments to protect land and public interest. 

We need housing in Mattapoisett. However, it makes no sense to destroy what we love in order to build it.

We have a gift here. The natural world is at our doorstep. We have an opportunity to build in a way that honors these gifts, to honor the ancestors that stewarded this land long before we arrived, for the benefit of generations yet to come. I hope we don’t waste our chance.

Stacie Charbonneau Hess 

Mattapoisett