To the editor:

I am writing to encourage town residents to attend the Bristol Planning Board meeting on Thursday, July 10. On the agenda is a public hearing on the Comfort Inn - Major Land Development Master Plan Phase waiver requests. The 80-room proposed hotel development would be built on wetlands opposite the intersection of Broadcommon Road and Gooding Avenue.

The developer is seeking waivers on six items that were not submitted in the master plan of the hotel development. I will try to put them in layman’s terms. They are: renderings that illustrate the visual impact of the proposed development (In other words, pictures/drawings of what it will look like.); general viewshed analysis (In other words, pictures showing what can be seen from the property - public and private streets and properties - as well as what can be seen into the property.); a written statement from Bristol Water Pollution Control Department stating the developer’s plan has been reviewed and approved regarding sewer main connections; a photometric plan - a plan for outside lighting; renderings/illustrations that show the visual impact on abutting properties; and a signage plan which shows location, size, design and illumination.

If these waivers are approved, the developer will move forward with a master plan without residents seeing the impact this building will have on our community. We do not need a hotel built on precious wetlands, and we do not want waivers on major developments granted to developers. There is power in numbers. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.

Patricia E. Chalmers
Bristol