DUMMERSTON — June 2013 will mark five years that the Home Depot on Putney Road in Brattleboro and its acres of parking lot have been vacant.
The government made a mistake by allowing prime farmland to be destroyed for this purpose. It's time to correct the mistake. There are two good options, either of which will require the government to buy the building.
One is to remove the building and parking lot and return the area to farmland. The government could sell the land to a farmer or sign a long-term lease - either way, with the condition that the land be farmed organically and that it be kept as farmland in perpetuity.
The second good option is to follow the lead of Mashpee, Mass. In 2002, that town worked with a private company to purchase a vacant big-box store and its acres of parking lots.
The site was converted to a neighborhood that looks a lot like downtown Brattleboro, with narrow streets, wide sidewalks, and two- and three-story buildings with stores at street level and apartments upstairs. The new neighborhood has a park that's similar to the Brattleboro Town Common. Before and after photos are at www.valleypost.org/node/749.
If you would like to sign a petition in support of these options, please contact me at [email protected] or 802-254-2531.