Master Plan Steering Committee – Vision Statement

J. P. Notaro 11-10-2005

I will start by stating I am a lifelong resident and have watched Clinton mature from the blue collar mill town of my youth where folks knew each other and looked out for one another, to more of a bedroom community where there is a bit of a division between the “townies” and some of the newer residents. I personally do not like this division and would like to see all citizens with a common goal of “community”. Yes, that may sound a bit like “pie in the sky” thinking but is not totally unattainable.

My vision would be a town with old usable old mill buildings refurbished and utilized to provide jobs of mixed skill levels and types. From “High Tech” incubator / small businesses like the Mill Complex in Maynard to light manufacturing to service oriented industries. I also wouldn’t be against a new industrial area that would be used for the same sort of enterprises. The older mill buildings are much better suited to business, industry and office space than to utilize for yet more condominiums and apartments. Remember, commercial property is taxed at 1.60% of residential property. Converting this property will also diminish our tax base vs. services and infrastructure needed. Clinton has been inundated with condominiums, apartments and residential properties of all types. I believe the time has come to slow residential development down drastically. Our town is becoming totally saturated and there needs to be some sanity brought to this process. Another part of my vision is to preserve the precious open land is left, and in my opinion should be bought and held as open land in perpetuity for the use by our citizens and to maintain a certain quality of life with open land being part of it, as opposed to becoming totally built and therefore “city-like”. This brings me to the next issue – Traffic and downtown parking. Clinton is a very hilly town with more and more traffic controls popping up. What used to be a 5 minute trip to the store can now take what seems like an eternity, again I don’t harbor any illusions that Clinton will revert back to the town of my youth when families were lucky to have one automobile, but the traffic and downtown parking is getting out of hand. Much of the traffic is people “passing through” on their way to somewhere else, like a job out of town. So for me, the job creation part of the vision comes full circle - restoring jobs that would reside in the previously mentioned industrial properties to keep people living and working in town. This will reduce traffic and augment our local economy. No one said this would be easy, but other communities have done it and I believe Clinton can rise to the challenge.

Another part of my vision is that the town that can provide the best services possible in the most efficient and cost effective way. This would include recreational areas usable by all citizens for different activities. Fields for ball playing, open space for passive and active recreation.

My vision for the downtown area would be to further restore it to keep the historical look and feel intact, clean up some of the storefronts and then attract niche businesses to promote the downtown area as a destination for shopping or whatever our planned niche provides.

For a historical viewpoint I have included this 20 year old report to illustrate my belief that we are overbuilt and our infrastructure and quality of life is going to suffer as a result.

The Planning Boards Report - Clinton Annual Town Report, 1985.

Honorable Board of Selectmen,

The year 1985 has brought tremendous pressure to develop the remaining land and existing structures for housing in Clinton. The town is rapidly becoming overcrowded and we have reached the point where we will create substandard housing and overcrowded conditions if our current zoning bylaws are not revised.

The community, in the future, must strive for quality, rather than quantity. Restrictive zoning bylaws in the surrounding towns will continue to bring more pressure on Clinton, due to our less restrictive laws, if this condition is not corrected. We basically have little or no land left, so our challenge must be to rebuild with good planning.

The Zoning Board of Appeals' decisions are limited to the laws of the town and Commonwealth, and changes must be initiated for the Board to become more effective and create a better community for all.

Respectfully submitted,
R. Carter Breed
Chairman