The Dec. 28 Valley News editorial, “Hanover Precedent — Dartmouth Denial Raises Questions,” mischaracterizes the Hanover Planning Board’s rejection of Dartmouth’s proposal to build a 70,000-square-foot indoor athletic facility. The editorial seems to suggest that the Planning Board’s decision failed to use legally required criteria to support its ruling.
In fact, the legal grounds for the board’s ruling are specified in its Notice of Action, which is available to the public at Town Hall. One of the legal grounds the Planning Board cited from the Hanover Site Plan Regulations is Article IX A.2.h., which stipulates that the Planning Board “shall” include as part of its decision-making “the relationship of the project to the harmonious and aesthetically pleasing development of the town and its environs” as authorized by the state of New Hampshire’s laws (see RSA 674). The Valley News editorial seems to suggest that this legal criterion should have been ignored by the Planning Board.
Some have expressed surprise that the application was denied. Perhaps they expect all Dartmouth projects to receive unconditional approval. However, this is not the first time that a poorly designed project with a severe negative impact has been denied approval. Nor will it be the last. The Planning Board’s deliberations were professional, exhaustive and fair to all involved. The board members and staff should be commended for their exceptional public service.
John ColliganHanover
I hear these lyrics to the song Immigrant Eyes, written by Guy Clark and Roger Alan Murrah, and I wonder: What happened to us?
Oh, Ellis Island was swarming
Like a scene from a costume hall …
With the tired and hungry and scared
Turn of the century pilgrims bound by the dream that they shared …
Sometimes when I look in my grandfather’s Immigrant Eyes …
I see starting with nothing and working hard all of his life.
So don’t take it for granted say grandfather’s Immigrant Eyes.
My grandfather’s days are numbered
But I won’ t let his memory die
’Cause he gave me the gift of this country
And the look in his Immigrant Eyes.
The American Dream was an immigrant dream. It was for those willing to give up everything to begin anew in a strange land. It was a destination that demanded one’s life and generations beyond to reach. The American Dream was “starting with nothing and working hard all of his life.” Nothing was given for nothing. Nothing was taken for granted. Nothing was owned. Nothing was deserved except what was earned “starting with nothing and working hard all of his life.” The American Dream was available to all but on the hardest of terms.
Now the American Dream is different. It is owned by a few. It is the property of those born with the dream in hand, with wealth, property and power given and passed down. The American Dream is a wall, a barrier, a massive and brutal force that proclaims, “This is mine. It is not yours. Go back to where you belong. Do no cast your eyes on what is mine.”
The American Dream belongs to us — never to them. The American Dream is no longer found in immigrant hearts or seen in immigrant eyes.
Have we got it wrong? Where does the American Dream live? Where did it die?
Douglas MooreSharon
During the season when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, it is worthwhile to observe that Jesus was a refugee. Like millions of displaced populations today, Jesus was taken by his father and mother from his homeland because it was no longer safe to dwell there.
King Herod had ordered the murder of all young children under 2 years old in order to enforce his tyrannical power against the perceived threat of a child whom he had been told would become a king. According to Biblical Scripture, an angel appeared to Joseph commanding him to “Arise and take the child to Egypt.” Joseph and Mary fled with little more than the possessions they could carry.
The refugees escaping from the war-torn regions of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are abandoning the former safety of their countries as well, and, in many cases, they are doing so in order to protect their children. While hostilities against them are increasing, we should remember that the refugees are escaping from tyrants and terrorists who have inflicted more harm on them and their homelands than they have on us. They, too, have heard a voice urging them to “Arise and take the child to Greece, or Germany, or Sweden.” They listened. Now, we need to listen to them.
Kathleen AgenaLebanon