To the editor:
I have been living in this beautiful neighborhood for 13 years. I moved here to raise my daughter and start a new life. My search for the perfect house in a cozy friendly community where I could enjoy a little peace and quiet ended when I fell in love with the little Cape on Alma Street. The location was perfect on a quiet dead end street.
This was my first home I purchased. I was excited to turn my yard into a place of serenity and beauty. With the help of my talented little brother, who turns ordinary into extraordinary, my yard transformed into an oasis with a contrast of stone walls, paths, and tiers of gardens. The landscaping is special due to my brother’s efforts as well as the heritage being the stonework comes from my dad’s quarry in Otis. I added a small massage studio that allowed me to be able to keep my daughter home without having to put her in day care. My clients loved the peace, quiet and beauty on Alma Street. I loved being able to work from home. Our street is a favorite spot to walk.
This spring I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a huge swath of cleared trees. I stood looking around and wondering how this could have occurred without me having any idea as to what has happening. When I inquired, no one knew what was going on. I have never seen anything spring up so quickly as a new road started to be built from South Street leading up to the top of Alma. To say I was completely dumbfounded when I learned it was a cell tower would be an understatement.
Chances are you would not choose to live under a cell tower, but if you had no say in the matter, one could be built without your input. If I had received any information or notification about the tower I would have spoken against it, but I was never given that chance. I would not have bought my house here if there was a cell tower.
I never thought I would find myself discussing the possibility of moving from my beloved home because of a 150-foot tangled mass of steel resembling something out of a space movie. If you’ve ever stood under one of these you get an entirely different perspective, with the numerous warning signs about radiation and the sheer magnitude of space it occupies.
This tower would completely change the look and feel of this beautiful neighborhood and I hope and pray the mayor and city councilors do not allow it to come to completion.
Elaine Ireland
Pittsfield
Published in the Berkshire Eagle
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/letter-dream-home-threatened-by-cell-towers-arrival,608521?