The Saint Consulting Group

125 ARGUMENTS TO DERAIL A REAL ESTATE PROJECT Strategic opposition topics and arguments that can be used for opposing projects:

A.

It would cause a traffic nightmare on already over-burdened streets 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Neighbors will never be able to get out of their driveways. Left turns will be impossible. Children/elderly will be endangered. Emergency vehicles will be unable to get through. Traffic queues will be unacceptably long and block neighboring intersections. Air quality will decline precipitously; contaminant pollution will be serious, if not life threatening, especially to asthmatics. 7. 8. 9. Oil and gasoline dripping will pollute the ground water. The proponent's traffic study is unreliable; an independent study is needed. The intersection is already at LOS F; the proponent should be required to bring it and all affected intersections to LOS A. 10. The "no build" scenario is meaningless, since there can be no doubt the proponent's project will generate at least 5,000 trips/day. 11. 12. Area streets are already beyond capacity. Store customers will use residential side streets as shortcuts.

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13. The proponent should be required to build stacking lanes, crosswalks, retaining walls, sidewalks, and install traffic signals and pedestrian lights. 14. 15. The proponent's entry/exit plan is inadequate and poorly designed. The proponent's parking lot traffic circulation plan is inadequate and dangerous. 16. The city should declare a building moratorium until we can deal with the issue of over-development and the traffic and environmental stress it causes. 17. The state is thinking of rebuilding this stretch of highway; no new projects should be started until plans are complete. Huge tractor-trailer trucks would pass in front of the elementary school 1. 2. 3. 4. Children will dart into the street and be run over. Noise from trucks will disturb school classes. Truck exhaust and dust will blow into the playground. Traffic and trucks will make it dangerous for school buses trying to pick up and drop off children. 5. Parents driving youngsters to and from school will find it impossible to turn into the school driveway or exit. 6. Trucks should be re-routed to avoid the school, even if this means that the proponent has to buy land and get it rezoned in order to provide a back access road to the site.

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7. The proponent must be required to install a pedestrian-activated crossing light and crosswalk in front of the school and to rebuild and extend the sidewalks in the area. 8. Proponent should be required to pay linkage contributions to reconstruct the school playground and ball field.

C.

The site is too close to the nursing home 1. 2. 3. 4. Seniors would be endangered trying to cross the street. The noise and dust of traffic would stress the patients. Air pollution from auto exhausts will endanger the health of senior citizens. The proponent's suggestion that seniors would talk to the store to shop is absurd. They can't carry groceries; they couldnt stand the exhaust fumes; and they'd never make it across the street with cars whizzing back and forth. 5. Trucks should either be re-routed or deliveries should be limited in frequency and hours.

D.

Noise and dust would be a nuisance 1. Neighbors won't be able to open their windows on warm summer nights with all the traffic noise. 2. Air quality will seriously deteriorate on muggy summer nights because of temperature inversion. Proponent should be required to close on any day when the Air Quality Index is projected to be high. 3. Huge trucks will be left idling at the loading docks all night long.

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4.

Deliveries will be made late at night and in the wee hours, waking neighbors and creating nervous insomniacs.

5. 6.

Children cannot do well in school unless they get a good night's sleep. Cleaning bills will skyrocket as dust and dirt penetrates homes and covers drapes and curtains.

7.

Asthma- sufferers must not be subjected to the dust. The proponent should be required to install an air filtration system on any neighborhood home in which an asthmatic lives or visits.

8.

The proponent should be required to enclose the loading docks and air conditioning/refrigeration units.

9.

The air conditioning/refrigeration units should be re-designed off the roof and installed in a soundproof shed at the back of the building.

10.

Cedar fencing and large arborvitaes should be required to protect the residential neighborhoods.

11.

Deliveries should be limited to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and none on Sunday; and no more than four delivery trucks, whether owned by proponent or vendors, should be allowed to enter the site in any 24-hour period.

12.

The store should be forbidden to open earlier than 7:30 a.m., and required to close by 11 p.m. On Sundays, it shouldn't open till noon so as not to interfere with church going, and should close by 6 p.m.

E.

Lights and noise will disturb the neighbors at night

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1. Parking lot lights must be sufficient in number to prevent crime, yet aimed low enough so as not to reflect in people's bedroom windows. 2. The entrance and exit must be re-designed so that automobile lights will not reflect on residential neighborhoods. 3. The proponent should be required to install high fencing and trees to keep light from reflecting into the neighborhood. 4. 5. The proponent should be required to close the store by 11 p.m. The proponent should be required to provide on-site security either by hiring a security company or detail police. 6. The proponents burglar alarm must be of the silent type so as not to wake neighbors. 7. Proponent must be required to patrol the parking lot and grounds each morning before opening the store and to remove any litter, glass, debris, or unsightly materials. 8. Proponent must be required to post signs in the parking area against all-night parking, and must make contractual arrangements with a towing service to remove any vehicle found on site between midnight and 7 a.m. 9. The proponent must devise a plan for keeping non-handicapped motorists from using the handicapped parking spaces.

F.

The project would destroy the residential character of the neighborhood 1. 2. Traffic, noise and pollution and fumes are not compatible with the area. Neighbors have a right to raise their children in safety.

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3. 4. 5.

Homeowners bought homes here for peace and quiet. Property values will be destroyed. Although the site is on a major street, the area is not developed and residential areas back up to the site.

6.

High-tension wires, dumpsters and loading docks are an attractive nuisance to children.

7. 8. 9.

We don't need another supermarket; there's another one 1/2 mile away. The store is far too big. It should be cut by 1/3 to 1/2 in size. This area was zoned as it is to preserve our neighborhood. No zoning change or variance or any kind that would change the character of the area is acceptable.

10.

This project is just going to create another teen hangout, with drugs, beer bottles smashed in the street, litter, screeching car tires, and foul language being yelled at all hours of the night. The proponent must prepare a plan to address this issue before any consideration is given to his plan.

11.

The neighborhood should not be subjected to the odor of garbage. The proponent should be required to fully enclose all dumpsters and have them emptied at least twice per week.

12.

The proponent's charitable and civic contributions in other communities do not justify destroying our neighborhood.

13.

The proponent's provision for green space set-asides and landscape plans are woefully inadequate.

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14. The proponent's architectural design is not in keeping with the character of the neighborhood. The mass must be lowered and the footprint reduced. 15. Construction of this store will bring platoons of huge trucks and construction equipment into our residential neighborhood all summer. 16. Construction must not begin before 8 a.m, and must end at 4 pm. No Sunday work. 17. Blasting for construction will destroy the neighbors peace of mind and crack their foundations, besides covering their cars, homes and furniture with stone dust and subjecting their children to frightening noise and quaking. Proponent must be required to post a $1 million bond to meet damage claims from blasting, must promptly settle all claims within 30 days; and must hire a housecleaning company to be on call to clean homes and cars. Proponent must notify residents in writing and in the newspaper of the days on which blasting will occur. At least two hours before actual blasting, proponent must personally notify each homeowner within a 3/4-mile radius in person or by phone. The total period of blasting, from the first blast to the last, shall not exceed one hour in any given day.

G.

Vital wetlands would be destroyed 1. 2. The proponent has not adequately assessed the wetlands. An independent species inventory should be conducted at the proponent's expense. 3. No work should take place until a full summer inventory is taken and a full assessment made as to species. 4. Filling wetlands destroys natural habitat for animals and plants, endangering the ecosystem.

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5.

Replicating wetlands is not acceptable to the neighborhood even if the law allows it. The proponent should redesign or move the store.

6. 7. 8.

Filling wetlands will cause flooding in the residential neighborhoods. Dust and air pollution from the project will adversely impact the habitat. A septic system will endanger the wetlands. The proponent should be required to install a force-fed system with a tight tank.

9.

The proponent's enormous parking lot will substantially increase the amount of impervious surface in the area, injuring the ecology.

H.

The site is an environmental nightmare 1. The proponent should be required to have a full environmental inspection done at the site, and the results should be made public. 2. The city should hire an independent environmental firm at the proponents expense, to evaluate the site and report findings publicly. 3. The proponent or current owner must be required to do a full cleanup before any part of the permitting process takes place, or we lose our leverage. 4. The former site owner is in Chapter 11. Well never get the site cleaned up if we dont require the proponent to do it in advance of granting building permits. 5. The proponent should be required to post a bond in twice the amount of the estimated cleanup costs and be given one year to do a complete cleanup.

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6. The proponent must pay for citizen monitors to watch the cleanup, monitor progress, and report any discrepancies or disturbing findings. 7. All contaminated soil must be hauled off-site and out of town, and replaced with clean fill. No soil storage, burning, or other treatment should be allowed on site. 8. All construction or demolition debris must be removed from the site on a daily basis so as not serve as an attractive nuisance for children or pets. 9. At the end of each work day, all potentially dangerous conditions, equipment, or materials shall be repaired, removed from the site, or so secured and locked that curious children could not be injured. 10. Proponent shall provide at least one police detail officer at the site during nights and weekends during the entire construction period. 11. Proponent must be required to prepare and submit a comprehensive rodent control program before beginning any demolition, so as not to attract rats to the residential neighborhood. 12. The proponent must pay for soil, air, and water monitoring equipment to be in place and operating during the cleanup process. 13. The proponent must pay the cost of monitoring the aquifer and for continual testing of the town water supply, wells, reservoir, and drinking water at the home faucet. 14. The proponent must pay the cost of test wells, to be drilled periodically where and when the citys consultant suggests, to discover and monitor any plume of pollution.

I.

Environmental concerns need to be addressed

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1.

Proponent should be required to plant a tree for each one he cuts down in clearing the wooded site. Plantings can be in parks and schoolyards.

2.

Storm water runoff must not drain into the ground water, or must be filtered and fitted with oil/chemical separators to avoid pollution from oil, gasoline, antifreeze, grease, road salt and other chemicals.

3.

The proponent should be required to make public a list of all hazardous, flammable or toxic chemicals it plans to carry or store in the facility.

4. 5. 6. 7.

Sinks and drains must not carry chemical waste into the ground water. Sinks in the butcher area must drain into a tight tank. No photo processing or dry cleaning should be allowed on the site. Floor drains in warehouse areas storing household chemicals and other toxins must drain into a tight tank.

8.

If automotive supplies are to be sold, proponent should be required to include a motor oil recycling station and equipment in the building plans.

9.

The proponent should be required to set aside substantial greenbelts and green islands to reduce the mass of his project and to reduce the area of bituminous impervious surface.

10.

The proponent's landscape and parking lot design are not environmentally friendly nor safe for pedestrians.

11.

The proponent's exit plan will cause backups, leading to needless air pollution from vehicle exhausts.

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12. Proponent should be required to pay for air quality monitoring and sample analysis, and the results should be published in the newspaper on a weekly basis. The city should engage a consultant to extrapolate the impacts on air quality from the projected traffic volume, queuing, and idling (including vehicles in both the parking lot and loading area). 13. Proponent must be required to use hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) in refrigeration units, and not be allowed to use hydrochrlorofluro-carbons (HCFCs) or any interim or so-called R-22 products.

J.

Community concerns need to be addressed 1. Proponent should be required to make a linkage contribution equal to three percent of the project cost to the community. 2. Proponent should be required to post a $5 million bond to guarantee all traffic mitigation, linkage and other undertakings are completed. 3. Certain members of the permit-granting boards have conflicts of interest and should not be permitted to sit on this project. 4. The proponent should be required to make full disclosure of all ownership and financial arrangements respecting this property and project. 5. The proponent's promises of jobs are unreliable unless we have a signed contract providing liquidated damages in the event of nonperformance. Proponent must also commit to using union contractors, sub-contractors, and all union labor, or at least to meeting union wages and conditions of employment for all construction trades. 6. The proponent's promises of tax revenues are meaningless unless the proponent waives his right to file for abatements for the next ten years, in writing.

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7.

The store should be substantially reduced in size to address concerns of traffic, noise, and pollution. We don't want or need a 30,000-item selection.

K.

The Infrastructure cannot handle the burden 1. The sewer system is overburdened. Proponent should be required to construct a self-contained waste disposal system. 2. The town rubbish system is overburdened. Proponent must make his own arrangements for trash disposal. 3. The police department is under-staffed. Proponent should be required to engage four on-site private-duty officers during the construction period, and two officers at all peak store hours, to be designated as weekdays from 3 to 11 p.m. and Saturdays, all day. 4. The fire department is under-equipped. The proponent should donate a dozen self-contained oxygen units to the fire department as part of linkage and also because firefighters would need them in fighting a fire in a huge structure such as proponent wishes to build. 5. The proponent must design emergency ambulance and fire lanes to assure that they are kept clear of parked cars at all times. 6. The proponent should be required to drill a well to provide for all outside watering needs on site so as not to adversely impact the public water supply; and to install an on-site water recycling system. 7. There is no public transportation to the area. Proponent should be required to provide shuttle buses.

L.

The proper procedures are not being followed.

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The Planning Board should conduct a series of informational meetings before taking up the matter formally.

2.

The Planning Board should not rule on the site plan before the matter goes before the zoning board.

3.

The Zoning Board should not handle the matter at all; a special town meeting should be called on a matter of this importance.

4.

The proponent must be required to show serious hardship, not just inconvenience.

5. 6.

The Mayor should place the question on the next election ballot. The City Council should hire a consultant to make a survey of the residents to see if they favor rezoning this parcel.

7.

The Selectmen should do their own traffic study, at the proponents expense.