“We love the things we love for what they are.” — Hyla Brook, Robert Frost

Scott Pickering, publisher of The Sakonnet Times, eloquently opened Monday evening’s candidates’ forum with high praise for Little Compton’s beauty. I believe his praise was rooted in the rolling farms and fields stretching down to the river, the open space, the big sky, the stone walls, cows and horses here and there, rolls of hay in the fields, chicken coops on every street, the bucolic farm stands, and so much more. The rural character, low population density, open land, and small settlements are why many of us chose to call Little Compton home.

Whether driving down Swamp Road to visit Wilbur Woods or South Shore Beach, along the long stretches of West Main Road or Long Highway, or down Warrens Point Road, one is immersed in nature’s beauty. What makes this landscape beautiful is that it remains largely natural, free of cluttered, cookie-cutter houses with attached garages and asphalt driveways every 100 feet.

Two-acre zoning in Little Compton is not enough to preserve its rural character. The Agricultural Conservancy Trust (Ag Trust), the Nature Conservancy, Sakonnet Preservation, and the Audubon Society each play a pivotal role in preserving land and nature. Among these, Ag Trust is the town’s own arm of land preservation and thus belongs to the people.

Unfortunately, multiple forces are pushing to sacrifice open space in the name of the affordable housing mandate imposed by the state. To my dismay, many candidates support dividing land into smaller and smaller parcels and taking bites out of Ag Trust land. While some candidates noted Little Compton’s limited supply of potable water, there was an abundance of blind conformity at the meeting.

State law gives qualifying affordable-housing proposals a special path that can override some local zoning requirements. But Little Compton is not powerless to protect what makes it special. Legal tools exist to preserve farmland, protect open space, and guide development. Little Compton should use every tool available to protect its rural character, agricultural land, water resources, and natural beauty for future generations. We should not simply accept state mandates without asking what we can do to preserve the town we love.

Little Compton’s rural character matters to the vast majority of its residents. That is part of what we paid for when we chose to live here. But its value extends far beyond our town. It matters to Rhode Island and beyond. Many Rhode Island towns have long since lost their rural character and become another ring of sterile suburbs. People from across the state visit Little Compton and enjoy its bucolic setting. If the town continues on this trajectory, before long there will be nothing “little” about Little Compton, and we will all pay a steep price.

If you want to change what you have, did you ever really love it?

If you love Little Compton, let it stay rural and little.

Ara Sadaniantz

Little Compton