Preserve the windmill district

State policies and the town's own Comprehensive Community Plan strongly support a viable farming community and the preservation of historic sites. Jamestown's Windmill Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a prime example of just what the State and the Comprehensive Plan are trying to protect. If the town were serious about preserving its rural and historic character it would commit itself above all to protecting that area's integrity.

Last week's Town Council resolution to provide the Clancys with a special zoning exception is therefore enormously disheartening. The resolution supports a commercial retail store operating at regular hours on a regular schedule within the Windmill Historic District. The proposed store is neither grandfathered, nor a farm, nor historic. It is unprecedented in that part of Jamestown.

Over the years - most recently and notably with the Windmill Historic District farms last summer - dedicated Jamestowners have voted to be taxed, have donated large sums of their own money, have even given up the development rights of their own property in order to help protect the town's rural and historic character. But, the Town Council's action now raises an important question. Why should a dedicated citizenry make significant personal sacrifices for a worthy civic cause if the town's elected representatives are going to violate the town's own established policies to diminish it?

Harrison M. Wright

Jamestown