Sad Day for Hopkinton
Living in South County, I am subjected to the usually boring "South County" section of the Projo. This past week though, with the threat of a big box development, there has been a really interesting series of articles about the citizens of Hopkinton standing up to their town planners and town council about the idea of rezoning their town to ban these big box stores.
From the Projo:
There's a country store, a one-bay service station, an antiques shop, a First Baptist Church. Sprinkled among them are homes — ranches, capes, and larger styles, most dating back at least 50 years.
These days, in Hope Valley and other parts of town, there are also little white signs. Their message, often just three words, is emphatic: "No Big Boxes"
On Monday, a group called Hopkinton First was getting ready to attend the Town Planning Board meeting and recommend that they "approve smaller, village style commercial zoning that would ban big-box stores at Exit 1 and preserve the rural character described in the town's Comprehensive Plan". That night, they and more than 350 "fired-up" residents attended the meeting.
The Board listened to the residents, and voted 5-0 to approve "a mixed-use commercial zone that would limit structures to 30,000 square feet". Excellent.
However, all of that was useless, because last night, with a vote of 4-1, the Town Council voted to leave Hopkinton's zoning unchanged, allowing the big box development idea to move forward.
"It's just disappointing," added Mary Meher. "It's pretty clear that this just doesn't reflect the people's wishes."
Yeah, I'd say that pretty much sums it up. Walmart coming soon!
April 1st, 2004 at 2:29 pm
Nerd that I am, I am on an urban planning mailing list and today (April 1) I got an email that said:
“How powerful is the idea of placemaking? Two months after a PPS (Project for Public Spaces)presentation to Wal-Mart’s board of directors, we have an answer. The retail giant has decided to abandon its “big box” orthodoxy in favor of
independently owned outlets that will strengthen downtowns and rebuild local economies…”
More info here
April 1st, 2004 at 3:29 pm
I’m suprised that Rhode Island still uses county designations. (I think they got rid of ours in the 50s)
How big is each one? 4 square yards?
April 1st, 2004 at 4:41 pm
Hahaha, oh, poor non-Rhode Islanders, they do not understand our ways.
The only county we refer to here in the biggest little is South County, which, naturally, doesn’t officially exist. In general parlance, it means either the beach/coastal mainland areas, or sometimes anything south of East Greenwich and west of the Bay. That happens to be Washington County (one of 5 real RI counties), but no one refers to it as thus.
This made it extra difficult for me, coming to Louisiana where, like much of the south, counties are major governmental units. That and they’re called Parishes rather than counties here. I live in some weird places.
April 1st, 2004 at 4:44 pm
I got bonus points on a test in a class called “The Geography of Human Ecosystems” because I knew that Louisiana had parishes, not counties.
May 7th, 2004 at 11:29 pm
Big Box in Rural RI
Providence Phoenix: Is Wal-Mart Inevitable? The excellent Ian Donnis has good story on the impending Wal-Martization of Hopkinton, RI, a rural community off Rte I-95 near the Connecticut border. Em talked about the town council selling their constituen…