To the Editor:

We are writing in response to Mr. Kleinkauf’s article from the April 3rd edition, titled: “Planning Board will not sponsor plans to restrict growth.”

Two citizens’ petitions to slow residential growth in Hopkinton were proposed as citizens’ petitions so that they could be considered in the May 2019 Hopkinton Town Meeting. As sponsors of these petitions, we were not intending to circumvent the Zoning Advisory Committee and Planning Board processes, but rather pushing them for inclusion in Town Meeting discussions this year rather than waiting for 2020. We feel that it is an important issue that needs a larger discussion and consensus.

The status of the citizens’ petitions on growth are as follows:

The one-year growth restriction will be revised as per the comments by Hopkinton town counsel. As rewritten, the article provides the structure and time frame for a town-organized committee to look at effects on town infrastructure with specific solutions. The last studies were done in 1995 and 2007. They looked at the impact of population increase and economics in the commercial and industrial districts.

The three-year growth restriction has been withdrawn from the 2019 Town Meeting.

— Deborah Fein-Brug, Amy Ritterbusch and Mary Larson-Marlowe