WARNING: STERLING’S SUPERFLUOUS MAKE-WORK TOWN PLANNER, AND SELF-SERVING DEVELOPER-WEASEL  PLANNING BOARD CHAIR, CARL CORRINNE, ANNOUNCE PLANS TO “OVERHAUL” STERLING’S PROTECTIVE [ZONING] BY-LAWS

GEE, what could possibly go wrong in the Town of Sterling when its self-serving weasel-developer Planning Board Chair, Carl Corrinne, and superfluous Town Planner, Stephen Wallace, the latter looking for ways to justify his continued feeding from the Sterling taxpayer-funded public mammary gland, announce their intentions to “overhaul” Sterling’s Protective [Zoning] By-Laws???

SEE  4-27-2023_minutes.pdf (sterling-ma.gov)

That little weasel Corrinne, in conjunction with the Packards, failed in two recent, successive Sterling Annual Town Meetings to get “Performance Zone 1,” along Route 140, re-zoned to “Commercial,” the Packards having bought up many of the parcels on both sides of Route 140 southeasterly of the Dana Hill Road intersection. They want another bite at the apple– Wallace, Corrinne, and the remainder of the Planning Board being avid pro-development cheerleading tools.

Zoom in on that mapped area and check the “layers” boxes “Conservation 1,” “Conservation 2,” and “Resource Protection Maps” — Sterling, MA (axisgis.com)

As you can see, “Performance Zone 1” is, essentially, surrounded by MassDCR watershed protection lands protecting the Stillwater River and Wachusett Reservoir Watersheds. THAT’S WHY “Performance Zone 1” was zoned the way it was MANY years ago rather than being zoned “Commercial” or “Industrial.” Obviously, the pro-development hacks populating what passes for ‘Sterling Town Government’ don’t care about such niceties. That’s why, for example, self-serving pro-development hacks Carl Corrinne, and Zoning Board of Appeals Vice-Chair Joe Curtin, the latter employed as an engineer by development-dependent Pandolf-Perkins Quarry/Sterling Concrete– E.H Perkins Construction (ehperkins.com)–spearheaded the effort, approximately three years ago, to have the North Sterling Wekepeke Aquifer Wellhead Protection Zone reduced in size– while the Town of Sterling seeks, desperately, another Town wellfield. Nice going, A$$h—s.

“Performance Zone 1” re-zoning is not the only item—by a longshot– on the pro-development hacks’ checklist, as you can see from the April 2023 Planning Board Minutes, link above. Of course, among other aims, that transparently self-serving PoS Corrinne wants ‘Special Permit’ granting authority transferred from the Zoning Board of Appeals, where it has resided for decades, to his Planning Board. OF COURSE HE DOES.

It behooves good, responsible Sterling citizens to monitor the Planning Board and the Town Planner between now and the 2024 Sterling Annual Town Meeting when, doubtless, the proposed Zoning By-Laws changes these clowns come up with will appear on the Town Meeting Warrant. You can expect the Zoning Board of Appeals to roll over. They always do. It’ll be up to 2024 Sterling Annual Town Meeting voters to show up in droves and shoot down the proposed changes.

It’s past time to take back OUR Town.

Stay tuned.

J.G.