I attended the Aug. 26 Zoning Advisory Committee meeting where Marguerite Concrete’s proposal to rezone the corner of Hayward Street and South Street was discussed. Again!

Brief history: Marguerite purchased these lots (zoned residential), admitted awareness of residential zoning (pre-purchase!) and now wants preferential treatment from ZAC to spot-zone from residential to rural business district. The goal? Build a 35,000-square-foot corporate headquarters vs. renting/buying from the many vacancies along South Street today.

The town unanimously voted no to spot-zoning there at the 2023 Town Meeting and voted no to development there in 2012 when EMC wanted a bigger parking lot. It’s simple: The lot has been residential since the 1960s. Despite this, ZAC ignored and voted yes to rezoning anyway.

Rezoning encourages “zone-creep” on residences, increases noise and light pollution, and negates promises made by EMC that the property would remain undeveloped as a buffer zone. The compromise? Marguerite believes that 8-foot trees and “dark-sky compliant” lights are enough, willfully ignoring that neighboring houses are taller than 8 feet! Imagine: a bright office neighboring your house, constantly illuminating bedrooms of kids trying to sleep vs. a previously pitch-dark neighborhood.

Further: (1) Emergency vehicle ingress/egress becomes onerous! (2) Lot rezoning accelerates pollution of Lake Maspenock, with parking lot runoff water entering an abutting river, draining lakeward! (3) Rezoning sets a “slippery slope” precedent, because why suddenly change now, here, with many vacant buildings along South Street? (4) Meager financial benefit: Generating about $60,000 annually (31 cents per month per taxpayer). (5) In June 2019, Marguerite’s Hopedale headquarters burned down, requiring hazmat cleanup. What if this recurs (in a residential neighborhood, positioned next to a river flowing into the lake)?

Marguerite’s latest proposal negates the 2023 Town Meeting decision where we already voted no! But town officials seemingly are still coaching Marguerite on how to ignore our will.

Is this worth defying Hopkinton residents’ voice at Town Meeting and zoning since 1960, causing lake pollution and traffic issues, and ruining an entire neighborhood? Is it worth changing a 60-year precedent in an entire neighborhood just for one resident?

Apparently, ZAC can be swayed for 31 cents per month and feels that a corporation has more rights than people living in about 300 houses.

We urge residents to tell the Planning Board, “No rezone!” What if something similar happened in your neighborhood?

— Terry Dever, Hopkinton

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