Needham is a beautiful, historic town with many tree-lined streets and a diversity of homes that give it a wonderful old-town feel.

Unfortunately, this is being lost. A couple of times a week, another old home is torn down to be replaced by the same type of large, similar-looking house.

On June 1, the Needham Large House Committee presented its proposal to improve this trend. We appreciate the time and effort, but the proposal comes up short.

We are worried!

We are concerned that the character of our town -- which reaches back to the Revolution -- will soon be fundamentally and irreplaceably lost.

We are concerned that there is no stronger protection for the historic homes.

We are concerned that there is no protection being offered for large trees that are so dear to many.

We are concerned that there are no new positive proposals to incentivize renovation and modernization of existing houses as opposed to tearing them down.

We are concerned about the loss of opportunities for middle class families and empty-nesters to stay in or move out our town.

We ask the Town Selectmen to hear our concerns and address them in a revised proposal on tear-downs.