To the editor:

As an abutter to the Concord street [former Woodman’s property] I was notified that a meeting that had been scheduled for the first week in October had been moved to Monday the 7th of October at 5:15 p.m. The meeting started on time, but the board chair announced that due to another conflict this meeting would likely be cut short and that abutters and others interested in the proceedings would more than likely not have a chance to speak at this meeting, which at the very least is discouraging to those who made the time to participate.

The room was full, and the overflow people were sitting in the hallway. The meeting ended without any of the interested abutters or concerned citizens having any voice in the meeting. This is very disturbing as a lot of these people had postponed their dinner or early evening plans to attend a meeting that is very important to not only the abutters but other concerned citizens. The announcement was made the meeting would continue next week.

The applicant for this project is asking for waivers or exceptions of “Minimum Requirements of, Square footage of housing, multifamily structures into the family district, side and rear setbacks, lot sizes, zoning district infringes, adding fill in the 100-year flood plain , and removing eight to ten thousand cubic yards of material from the site.

This applicant has stated in a previous meeting that in order for them to make the project pay [make money for them] is for the town of Peterborough Planning Board grant the applicant Waivers and exceptions in Zoning issues, setback issues, lot sizes, driveway and road exceptions.

This is not a homeowner asking for permission to add a porch or room onto their home due to a hardship. This is an applicant that is wants to build units here in town and move on to another project.

They are not going to live here and become part of the community.

I have no ill will towards this company as this is a business to them. I agree that Peterborough could use more housing but permitting exceptions and granting waivers to the extent that they are requesting, is not in the best interest of the town or the abutters.

Dennis Cilley

Peterborough