After reading letters and hearing about remarks made on a local call-in radio program condemning the residents on Valley View Road because of their concerns, we feel the need to defend most of the neighbors who attended those meetings to voice their concerns.

Our concerns are not that low-income people would be coming to Hermitage! The remarks of a few people have really overshadowed the main concerns.

We do not think we are too good to allow this in our neighborhood. Of course we are worried that drugs or crime may increase as it could in any neighborhood bringing in 40 or more new homes into a small area, high or low income!

Our neighborhood has always been a great spot to live. It’s close to town, close to the dam yet you’re still in the country. This is why my husband and I have chosen to live here for over 35 years. This endeavor will make an increasingly bad traffic situation even worse, possibly affect the wells of current residents, and for some reason the previously designated wetlands have disappeared. There are many reasons who this development is not desirable, do not think it is because we are afraid of low-income people invading our neighborhood.

I’m sorry if Ms. Paul felt we were cold and unwelcoming but our intentions were not to belittle her or anyone else. We just want to protect our neighborhoods as would any of you who wrote in or called the radio station to criticize us. Why is it necessary to add an additional 40 homes to our neighborhood when there are currently so many vacant homes in Hermitage?

Anybody has the right to reside anywhere they want. Our concerns are not with the type of people coming into our neighborhood but with the potentially hazardous and environmentally undesirable changes this would bring to our neighborhood when it seems too unnecessary. Woda Development’s only concern is the profit they will be making and I’m sure it will be a big one.