[Editor's Note: Because I remember with fondness the days of the Fairness Doctrine, I e-mailed Gail Greenwood this morning to let her know that Bill Clark had posted a reply to her letter. She politely asked for equal time, and here it is. -jm]

Hi John,

Thanks for alerting me to Bill Clark's response to my letter. I'm grateful
for the public forum you host. It's wonderful to be able to engage in a
public discussion about an issue that is so very important to all of us.

Let me start by saying I appreciate Mr. Clark's role as Director of
Business Development as I'm sure he can appreciate my role as Island
inhabitant

I'd like to counter Mr. Clark's points.

My letter clearly states that I believe the Portsmouth Design Review
guidelines are excellent. Yet, as he illustrates, it's the enforcement that
I mentioned as worrisome and which is actually posing a legal issue as we
speak.

Kudos to the hard working Design Review Committee. I know first hand that
creating and implementing regs like that is no small feat. Middletown First
proposed to extend the geographic area of our own excellent Town Center
overlay to encompass our entire commercial district back in 2002. 5 years
and many volunteer man hours later we finally have regs in place but
signage is still not concrete. The 1999 sign regs are actually being
softened in this former district. Where once only wooden, exterior lit signs
were allowed, plastic halo lit signs are being allowed once again.

The 16 acre Target site IS wooded. The majority of the parcel is covered in
pines. Whether it's shale, ledge or sand it's still undeveloped land where
wildlife presently resides and who know how many historic events took place.
It deserves respect no matter what takes place there.

As for the belief that the sprawl won't spread– zoning is political. Just
because something is not zoned commercial today does not mean it won't be
tomorrow. With enough money and clout, anybody can petition the town to
change zoning designations to suit their needs. And it happens frequently in
Middletown. I can provide specific examples if needed.

Have any of us ever seen a stand alone Target? Target brings Best Buy,
Circuit City, Kohl's TGIF. etc., etc. Companies such as CVS have been known
to regularly purchase lots across the street from these big developments for
1 million or more. As a homeowner facing the development and a loss of
quality of life- that's an offer that's hard to refuse.

Referring to beautiful, 2 lane Union Street as merely a "key crosstown
artery" does a disservice to the residents who call it home. And our
overworked RIDOT will make many promises. A Middletown Square stripmall
condition was to tie into the controlled signalized access system to be
synchronized by RIDOT. 5 years later we are still awaiting synchronization
of our traffic lights on West Main Road.

I never said Middletown Square was promised to "lower" taxes I said it was
proposed as a tax " boon". Trust me, that superlative is mild compared to
some the developer actually bandied about to trying to sell the project
during 8 months of hearings before the ZBR.

The "killer visual" sign photo I hold in an earlier McDaid post is NOT the
famous photo used in the NY Times article about visual blight and the Dunn
Foundation. That is ANOTHER equally heinous shot featuring the proliferation
of cable, cell, telecommunications, etc. wires. I have many more sign
pictures I took myself just last week- that are far worse. The picture I
hold was shot by Dave Hansen and is from 2001.

I love Middletown. I love this entire island. That is why I am so passionate
about what happens to Portsmouth. Residents need to consider the
intangibles-the loss of the starry night sky because of 24 hour security and
halogen parking lot lighting, the loss of the sound of crickets on a summer
night because of endlessly droning HVAC units, tractor trailers traveling
their roads and backing up and beeping at all hours of the night. Not to
mention the 4000 cars a day the store will bring. Just ask any of the
residents behind Middletown's Home Depot how life had changed for them since
the store moved in.

The developers have the ability to pay many, many dollars to present
"experts" and convince municipalities that their project is good for the
town. The only recourse most lowly citizens have is to try and rally the
troops via a letter to the editor in the local paper. Does anyone think
that's a fair match up?

Sincerely,

Gail Greenwood
Middletown