The long running saga of the attempt to construct a hotel within sensitive wetlands areas on Gooding Avenue continued last week with a front page article in the Phoenix highlighting the developers appearing before the town planning board in an attempt to have this ill conceived project approved.

The planning board heard from numerous property owners in and around the Silver Creek watershed who would be adversely affected by the construction of this proposed hotel, joining a long list of residents, engineers, and other individuals voicing their opposition to this development.

When I purchased my home in 1982, I never had any issues whatsoever with flooding in my yard and basement, but as more and more wetlands were disturbed by reckless development, my neighbors and I have suffered a huge decrease in our quality of life, with flooded yards and basements becoming the norm rather than the exception, due to the misfeasance of past town officials who approved the construction of numerous properties in and around the watershed with no regard for the hardships being placed on abutting property owners.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not against all development in our town, and if the developers of this proposed hotel are so adamant about building this hotel, there are multiple parcels of land that are much more suitable for building than the environmentally sensitive area currently under consideration.

My neighbors and I have suffered greatly over the years due to unbridled development in the area of the Silver Creek watershed, and I hope our current town leaders do not make the same mistakes that their predecessors have made over the years, and they soundly reject this project.

Mike Proto 
Bristol