Dan Rowe [07/24/2003]

To the editor:The self appointed protector of the citizens of Tamworth's freedom and pursuit of happiness, Jeffrey Swan, in his latest missive published by your paper on July 23 claims that those of us who favor zoning for our town are motivated by a desire of "being on regulatory boards where they can feel important, basically telling others how to live their lives." This certainly communicates his level of understanding of this vitally important and complicated issue. Those of us who own property want some protection for the value of our investment. We want to feel that commercial growth or worse uses of abutting property occur within guidelines that are sensible, well thought out and in keeping with the overall character of our community as developed and approved by all the citizens of Tamworth. To suggest that our motivation is anything else perpetuates the scare tactics and divisiveness that this subject (zoning) has generated. Other letters have equated zoning to Communism and have claimed that returning service men and women would be denied the right to start a business where they wanted. Maybe we should all stop, take a deep breath and really understand the issue in a sober, serious and unemotional way. Swan's silly letter does nothing positive to further intelligent debate on this very important subject.