Today’s Telegram & Gazette reports that a business wants to move into the Southbridge Industrial Park, and wants the access road completed as soon as possible. The access road they’re referring to is the one from Rte. 169 (not going near our land), and has a pending appeal to MassDEP that may be resolved within the month.
Best case for us would be that the appeal causes the people wanting the access road to consider the alternative that comes from Rte. 20 and through our land. I find that scenario unlikely, but one can always hope.
Why is it that you want a road to be built on your land? Is it your desire to turn your land into money, or do you just want an easier time getting to route 20 from your home?
The money. Land has very little value when it’s inaccessible, and significant value when it’s accessible. Having someone else pay for a road to be built means I get the value without the cost. The amount of land, if rezoned industrial and with decent road access, if sold in a halfway-decent economy, could basically let me retire (or at least, retire a lot sooner). And, it should be far enough away from my house that the companies wouldn’t interfere with our beautiful view of the woods.
Plus, it would be helpful for Charlton’s tax base to have industry on the edge of town where nobody minds, and Southbridge’s tax base to have access to their industrial park in a way that doesn’t go through a residential area.