Petition to pause negotiations with SLV until a full review and analysis is completed.

The Board of Selectmen is moving quickly to sign off on a letter endorsing a massive development on top of pristine wilderness proposed by Strategic Land Ventures. In a highly unorthodox move, The Board of Selectmen is set to begin negotiations without feedback from key town boards and officials, effectively bypassing our town's finance and conservation groups.

Our petition reads as follows:

To the Selectmen of Manchester:

We the undersigned citizens of Manchester respectfully request that you pause any negotiations with Strategic Land Ventures (“SLV”) or its representatives regarding SLV’s proposal to develop the parcel recorded as #43 0 18, unless and until:

1) The Town’s Finance Committee has assessed the financial impact of the proposal on the Town;

2) The Town’s Conservation Commission has assessed the impact of the proposed development on stormwater runoff and wetlands, including a Wildlife Habitat Study;

3) SLV has provided essential information about its proposed on-site wastewater treatment plant and leaching fields;

4) An independent consultant to the Town has assessed the degree to which the proposed wastewater plant and water runoff threatens the Town’s drinking water;

5) An independent consultant to the Town has assessed the safety of building and operating a multifamily complex of this size on this site, when SLV itself admits that the project is “less safe.”

We believe that the SLV proposal is sufficiently complex, and sufficiently significant to the future of the Town, that the only prudent course of action is for you, our elected representatives, to allow these studies to proceed. Without them, you risk exposing the Town, its residents, SLV and its contractors to violations of these laws and regulations. The Town can negotiate responsibly with SLV only once the Town has made a careful assessment of these factors.