Defender of affordable housing project criticized for stance

Jun 18, 2017

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the letter to the editor written by Ms. Mitchell of Mattapoisett. I wish she had taken the time to attend the Selectmen’s meeting or waited until the meeting was on cable TV before writing her letter.

If this project was a senior only development of a much smaller number of one bedroom units, I don’t believe there would be any objections, but it is not. This project consists of 32 one-bedroom units; 122 two-bedroom units; and 20 three-bedroom units. Wareham is looking at a 174-unit development, generating, by my quick estimate, 185 children that will immediately need or very shortly need to be educated. Wareham’s sewage treatment plant is just about at capacity. At the very minimum this complex, as proposed, will house more than 300 people. Just how much room the treatment plant has, I do not know.

As for warehousing people, yes, I’m the person who made that statement at the selectmen’s meeting. Fifteen to 20 seconds prior to making that statement, I stated that I did not see any amenities in this complex; pool, community room, etc., there was just apartment buildings and the parking lot. If you knew the area at all, you would know it is not very hospitable to people walking, especially with young children in tow. There is nothing there. For a stay-at-home-parent with a couple of kids and no vehicle, I don’t think this is going to be a nice place to live.

I invite you to come down to 3102 Cranberry Highway some time. Take a look around; take a walk down that stretch of highway, especially on a summer Friday night. Would you want to live there?

Monica Montgomery

West Wareham