More Scrutiny Needed

There are times when we spend so much energy focusing on minutia that we miss the big picture. The Enterprise did this in it's editorial last Friday.

At the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting for the Forest Cove 40B project, several members of the ZBA - and their hired consultant - challenged the developer, Dr. Robin Peters, about the cost of security fencing. They considered the fencing excessive, if not entirely unnecessary. Dr. Peters clarified that the fencing was intended to protect the box turtle, a condition imposed by the conservation commission in response to a directive from the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

At that point, ZBA member Ronald Erickson pressed Dr. Peters, asking if a fence to protect "an almost non-existent species" was really necessary. Dr. Peters responded that it was required, and concluded with some simple, good-natured banter which included the word "mythical."

There are issues here that are far more alarming - and are more deserving of ink - than Dr. Peters' use of the word "mythical." For example, why did Mr. Erickson not know that the fence was a condition imposed by the conservation commission? For that matter, why didn't the consultant know about it? Obviously, neither the ZBA nor this consultant did their homework. This is especially alarming given that the consultant is being paid.

Because of the abuse of the 40B law - as exemplified by projects like Little Pond Landing and Fresh Pond Farms - we should carefully scrutinize these projects. However, given the recent events surrounding the Zoning Board of Appeals, one has to wonder why the Enterprise isn't more closely scrutinizing the ZBA instead of taking people to task for using the word "mythical."

(This post also appeared as a letter in the October 12, 2007 edition of the Falmouth Enterprise.)