Because we love the Town of Ballston and the Village of Ballston Spa – our quiet, safe, small-town way of life -

Because we know the permanent damage a Walmart big-box can do to a small community – huge traffic increase, spikes in crime, increased public safety expense, damaged roads, pollution, depressed wages and shuttered local businesses –

Because Ballston residents strongly and clearly rejected the big-box development model and its negative impacts in favor of small-scale, mixed-used development, as reflected in the Town's Comprehensive Plan -

We urge the Ballston Planning Board to issue a "Positive Declaration" on the Walmart development.

A "Positive Declaration" is the Planning Board's way of stating for the record that there will definitely be major impacts on the local community from this big box. Issuing a "Pos. Dec." is the only way that all the major harmful impacts will be studied AND minimized, should the project move forward.

A Positive Declaration:

1) Is legally required.

2) Will serve to identify and reduce harm to the Town and Village.

3) Honors Ballston residents' strong desire to avoid the impacts that result from big-box development, as clearly expressed in the Comprehensive Plan.

4) Sets an important precedent for future large-scale development.

After issuing the "Pos. Dec." the Planning Board can find that the harm is too great. It can then stop the project or force it to downsize. It can also force Walmart to pay the cost of reducing harmful impacts.

Sign on and be counted on the side of local business, good paying jobs, safe streets, and our small town quality of life. Please add your voice to the vast majority of Town residents who don't want big box over-development in Ballston.

After you sign, please write a letter to the Town: cshemo@townofballstonny.org

And please share your letter with the Ballston Journal and Daily Gazette.

www.dailygazette.com/op_letter/

Thank You! - Smart Growth Ballston

P.S. Any donation request from IPetitions is entirely voluntary, and does not affect signatures. It does not come from, nor go to, Smart Growth Ballston. It is generated by the web site service.