Editor, The Smithfield Times:

My husband and I have now spent a year and a half of our lives worrying, fighting and living with a nightmare of uncertainty regarding warehouses almost literally in our back yards. 

The stress has been unrelenting as we deal with should we sell our house and move, what’s going to happen to our property values, what’s going to happen to our health and peace of being, our way of life? My husband had a pacemaker implanted last May, which I think has a direct connection to the stress we have suffered.

All this to defend ourselves from the county wanting to build warehouses that will bring 1) noise from the proposed 24-7 operation as trucks and trailers come and go, 2) light pollution in an area that most nights we can still see the stars, 3) traffic, making it more difficult to access Route 460, and 4) diesel exhaust containing harmful particulate matter and gases that can significantly impact our health by irritating the respiratory system and worsen existing heart and lung conditions. This and more at a time in life when we would rather be thinking how we will retire in peace to spend time with family and community.

We wonder what is going on when we hear all the uproar of a solar farm being 250 feet from the road and even further from the nearest neighborhood. At least the solar farm doesn’t come with traffic, light pollution and diesel fumes. And even better, how it is touted that the events center on 258 will be “over 1,000 feet from the nearest residence.” Good grief, what is going on?

We as homeowners have had to be our own lawyers trying to understand the legal papers, documents and reports. Aren’t you, our elected officials, supposed to support the citizens, our way of life, and why we live in Windsor? All burden has been place on the citizens. All the loss will be suffered by the citizens.

It seems the attitude is, who cares about the “regular folks” who live in the central and southern part of the county. Let’s relegate them to low-paying jobs, poor health and a community of warehouses and industry that will spoil life today and prevent upward development in the future.

 

Kathy Willis

Windsor