Open Doors Make Good Neighbors

[This Letter to the Editor appeared in the Fitchburg Star on June 28, 2007.]

I would like to congratulate the Fitchburg Common Council, Mayor, and Plan Commission for working in a thoughtful way to plan for the city's future. And I thank them for the courteous reception that they have always given all concerned citizens even those residing outside of Fitchburg.

Though some might complain about "outsiders," our leaders realize that everyone in the area has a stake in questions of development, and that living on one side of a line on a map does not negate a persons ideas or concerns.

I've heard the Mayor point out that Fitchburg officials and residents participate in discussions about Allied Drive, even though it is in Madison, because being just across the border, it affects Fitchburg. Similarly, there are neighborhoods in the Towns of Dunn and Blooming Grove that are just across the border from Fitchburg's Northeast Neighborhood. In fact, they are much closer to it than I am, even though I live in Fitchburg.

Through my concern with land use (especially how it affects farmland, natural areas, streams, wetlands, Lake Waubesa, the aquifer and groundwater), I have made many new friends and acquaintances in the surrounding cities and towns. I've worked closely with several of them and know them to be deeply concerned about the threats to our habitat imposed by the Urban Growth Boundary Map as it is currently drawn. I've seen their dedication to protecting what's left of a beautiful area on the urban fr'inge. I've watched them pour hundreds of hours into educating themselves and others about storm water, New Urbanism, PDR and TDR, economic benefits of local food production, sustainable living, etc. They are a tremendous resource to the entire region and especially to Fitchburg since it is here that so many important decisions, affecting everyone in the area, will be made.

I urge my fellow Fitchburgers to welcome input from everyone willing to look seriously at the issues we face and find solutions that benefit all future residents of this region.

Terry Carpenter

Fitchburg