Visualizing the loss.
Our SCT&W videographer, Hayden Landry, has done this video that shows some of the devastation awaiting Chebacco Road if the proposed luxury condominium development is approved. Much of this undisturbed and environmentally unique 66-acre parcel will be lost if this high density enclave for the very wealthy is allowed to proceed.
Packing more traffic on Chebacco Road will likely convert this quiet and forested country road into a high speed, de facto entrance ramp to Route 128. But viewing the proposed project from Chebacco Road entrance alone tells only a portion of the story. The developer’s plans calls for bulldozers, demolition experts and tree cutters to begin the large-scale devastation. Large portions of the now-targeted 66 acre undeveloped parcel will be paved-over, clear-cut, blasted-out and built-upon to construct 50 clustered housing units. Many hundreds, if not thousands of mature oaks, maples, evergreens and others will be lost, drinking water and wetland resources will potentially be contaminated, soils and vegetation substrate stripped, and surrounding areas will be plagued by months of blasting and bedrock fracturing. Many hundreds of large construction trucks will be needed to cart away possibly half a million cubic feet of rock debris. And what does the Town of Hamilton get in return for the loss of this unique, public recreation area… tax revenue in an amount yet to be determined and the major risk of years of liability and lawsuits for the contamination of its only remaining aquifer and valuable watershed resource. This is a bad and shortsighted bargain.
Painting the portrait.
Davey Walters is studying environmental science and biology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in NY. He has been a wildlife photographer for over ten years, and his close work studying nature has led to an interest in conservation photojournalism. He is also an expert birder and naturalist.
Hayden Landry is a freelance filmmaker based in Hamilton, MA. Having studied comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, he works with many local artists and grassroots organizations in helping translate their message through film.
Heather Ensworth has lived beside Chebacco Trails for 50 years! She is articulate, a well studied individual and has spent countless hours exploring and observing this woodland. Her passion exemplifies the need to keep the Chebacco Trails and Watershed forever wild and NOT stomped out with a large cluster of houses and a potential disaster to our natural aquifer.
Winter is nearly over. Soon a blaze of color and life will emerge. Let's help it to remain forever! Spread the word!