Dear Sugar Grove,

I am currently sitting in the Planning Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. You know, the one where you present how you want to pave over acres of open land so that semi-trucks can enlarge their habitat at the expense of, well, everyone else. Writing this letter seems more productive than screaming in frustration and interrupting your nice, tidy meeting. 

Sugar Grove, you are not being a good neighbor. Your consultants mentioned several times that they took the opinions of Sugar Grove residents very seriously. They did not want industry or truck traffic near their homes. They wanted to maintain open land and create walkable connections between their communities. I can understand those desires. It might come as a surprise to you, but other people, not only those living within the borders of your fair village desire those good things, too. This goes a long way to explain why so many non-Sugar Grove residents are so very angry and disappointed. 

You see, in order to still take in the cash from Crown who cares more about trucks and money than the people and environment, you decided to give Crown the property very far away from most of your residents. That property also happens to be nearly in my back yard. No one from the village or its consultants came to ask my opinion about how increased pollution, truck traffic, and the paving over of open land would affect me, my family, my business, or my neighbors. We don't live in Sugar Grove, so I guess we don't count.

Sugar Grove, you are not being a good neighbor. In an era where brain science is consistently showing that connection, cooperation, and a focus on healthy values (as opposed to seeing everything and everyone in monetary terms) is the way forward to healing our society, you are choosing to act in ways that are totally opposite to these things. You are showing that you care only about your residents (or at least their tax dollars) and about your ability to exploit the environment for your bottom line.

Sugar Grove, you are not being a good neighbor. It is precisely this silo mindset that encourages an us verses them mentality. In an era where our nation is deeply divided, you are choosing to fragment our world even more in choosing to ignore the needs, desires, and quality of life for your neighbors to the north. Neighbors, who I might add, have absolutely no say in decisions that will affect them significantly in both emotional and financial ways. We will be paying the price for your greed and selfishness. You heard the complaints of your own residents, is it too much to ask you to listen to ours?

Sugar Grove, you are not being a good neighbor. We are in the midst of a climate crisis with the use of fossil fuels being a significant part of the problem. Scientists have also been learning exactly how important open lands are to the ongoing welfare of our planet. Building yet another temple of concrete for the worshipping of money and greed serves absolutely no one actually except lining the pockets of corporations who are actually not starving. If, as your representative is insisting, that ecological issues are so very, very important than why page over the land and invite more semis than the area can handle to begin with? Forgive me if I don't really believe you. At all.

Sugar Grove, you are not being a good neighbor, nor actually, are you being a good leader to your own residents. Have you seen what happens to communities who invite this type of corporation in? Do you think you will actually be able to control this monster once you have let it out of the box? Do you really want that for your residents? Do your residents? I think not. I think you are deluded by the silky words and promises by Crown and your consultants. If you continue, you will make a name for yourselves. You will be known as the people who ruined not only your village but those villages and towns near it. Can you live with that, because I don't think we can.

Sugar Grove, this is your chance to be a good neighbor. Please take it.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Curry