By David Mandy, Highland Class of 1976
To the enlightened citizens of Highland,
In my lifetime, I’ve watched the town I grew up in change singularly. Enough is enough.
Until the 1980’s, Highland had been a small but vibrant town. Highland had thrived until the town leadership, in their infinite wisdom, allowed the franchises to undermine the local economy. On the outskirts of town along Route 9W, the Moschetto family apple farm, the size of four square football fields, was malled and asphalt carpeted. Now the bees are gone, there’s more traffic and the fragrance of the apple blossoms is missing, replaced by the rank smell of petroleum and fast food grease. New businesses in the form of strip malls and generic storage facilities sprang up around the supermarket. In a society driven by consumption and growth, this is considered progress. The Highland Planning Board must have approved it.
Have the citizens of Highland noticed that they may have already lost their town?
Highland is fast becoming part of the suburban sprawl that has already consumed the land on east bank of the river south of Poughkeepsie. Aren’t we supposed to not repeat these mistakes?
We certainly don’t need more parking lots. The good news is that retail is moving on-line already replacing this need for malls and sprawl. Now the empty asphalt-parking-lot-dinosaurs have become heat radiators. It is undeniable that much has changed in our atmosphere.
Highland needs vision. The landowner cashes out and we’re stuck with ugly. The franchise vacuums up local revenue and makes a direct deposit into the deep pockets of far away shareholders.
The people of Highland have some soul-searching to do. I have no doubt that they will meet these challenges and be on the right side of history. It’s the people that have the power.
If you want to save your community, hold your “representatives” accountable. It’s more than voting. Make sure the choices of the Highland Planning Board favor the local interest and stand behind the community. Time has run out for time-consuming “studies.” The urgency of what needs to be done should be obvious to anyone with eyeballs and a heart.