The preliminary design for the Woodlands development calls for egress through the Dale Ave/North St./ Winter St./Cottage Ave neighborhood. This neighborhood consists of small homes on narrow roads and is unsuitable for the additional traffic this project will create. Ingress from a new road to Main St. will also present safety concerns due to proximity to the Village Ave. intersection and the high volume of traffic. Additional school bus stops will create further traffic problems. Development of this area will require extensive topographic changes and tree removal. The entirety of this design will adversely impact the quality of life for this neighborhood and the J William Hts. neighborhood, and will reduce property values.

Millis Open Space bylaws, Section D (Development Standards) requirements state:

"Extensive topographic change necessitating vegetation and tree removal is minimized"

and

"The character of the neighborhood in which the tract lies in enhanced"

and

"The development .. will not cause unreasonable traffic congestion or unsafe conditions"

At minimum, the proposed plan fails on all these standards. Eliminating the proposed ingress and egress and moving the developed area to the Island Rd side of this land solves these problems. Ingress from Island Rd, with a gated emergency exit at Railroad Ave eliminates these safety concerns, provides safer school bus access, and preserves this neighborhood as well as the West side of J.William Hts. Utilizing the sand pits along Island Rd for development would require less change to the natural environment than the current plan as well.
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We, the undersigned, call on Tresca, and the Millis Planning Board, to redesign the Woodlands development. We want the access to Main St and the Dale Ave/North St./ Winter St./Cottage Ave neighborhood removed, replaced by a main entrance at Island Rd and a gated emergency access at Railroad Ave., along with a 200 ft buffer between the newly built lots and all current residential lots.

The Planning Board has the tools at their disposal to enforce these requirements, and has the ethical responsibility to protect the quality of life and property values of the current residents of the Town.