We wanted to express a heartfelt thank you to all who came out yesterday to sign the citizens petition to call a special town meeting. The response was overwhelmingly positive and nearly every single person signed the petition. What was clear is that residents want positive change in Millbury to regulate the development of the town so while it grows it retains its small town character. Many have not been pleased with recent residential development projects for one reason or another.

Most people understand change starts with citizen participation and proper regulation of multi-family dwelling units (3 or more), as these large-scale developments are impacting existing residents with substantially more traffic being the top concern expressed. To responsibly grow our tax base we need more non-residential developments that are not a drain on our tax revenue (i.e., schools, police, fire, emergency services, etc.).

A former Millbury Planning Board member, came out yesterday to specifically commended our neighborhood for being so actively involved, consistent, and persistent rather than simply complaining after the fact about the Millbury Planning Board’s decisions. We understand that the Millbury Planning Board and other boards in town can only make decisions based upon town zoning bylaws, state laws and regulations, etc.

One of our neighbors collected a good number of signatures of registered Millbury voters yesterday, but fell a little short of our goal. However, we will be out collecting signatures again soon. Stay tuned to this blog for the date(s), time(s), and location(s). Hearing people's concerns was a wonderful experience to know others have the same concerns as we do and want to see similar outcomes. Neighbors working together can make a difference. There is strength in numbers. If you have not subscribed to our blog, please feel free too. It is a great way to keep informed and get involved.

Registered Millbury voters came from all over town:

• Aldrich Ave

• Alpine St

• Beach St

• Bellville Ln

• Bengtson Ln

• Braney Rd

• Burbank St

• Captain Peter Simpson Rd

• Coldbrook Rd

• Elm Ct

• Elm St

• Greenwood St

• Haywood Ln

• Hemlock Dr

• Hilltop Dr

• Horne Wy

• Jaclyn Rae Dr

• Linda Ave

• Maple Ln

• Miles St

• Oakview Dr

• Orchard St

• Rice Rd

• Riverlin Pkwy

• Riverlin St

• South Oxford Rd

• Thomas Hill Rd

• Village Grn

• West Main St

• Woodland St

Our concerns are not just the proposed insanity on Rice Road, rather our neighborhood has broader big picture objective for the betterment of the town of Millbury.

We look forward to meeting more residents and discussing the development concerns in Millbury.