There are some residents who live at the Mobile Home Court on Boutwell Road that are nervous and upset. They heard that the City wants to declare the Park of Commerce a Brownfield. There was a rumor being circulated out there that they lived over a dump.
I want to assure you that you do NOT live over a dump. I had a lady call me who lives there and I told her that but I also mentioned that the owner of that Park could opt out of the Brownfield designation as stated at the Commission meeting.
Directly across the street used to be Boutwell Dairy. We bought our milk from Boutwell and I went to school with Barbara Boutwell. This was land for dairy cows and certainly not polluted.
I am not sure why the City is so gung ho in the Brownfield label for these parcels. It obviously is all about the money. The City can apply for certain grants and if you mention “green,” the government will go bananas just handing over the money. Mayor Clemens said that the entire CRA was a Brownfield, his explanation.
The City says it is to attract development. I would think that it could very well be the opposite. The entire perception of a Brownfield is that the property is contaminated, polluted, and possibly has hazardous waste. Who would want to buy into that?
There was a good article in today’s Neighborhood News on this subject.
