George Cushing of Frog Pond at the Bartlett Mall (yes, there is a Frog Pond) the new political consultant for the Newburyport Political Blog is a tad discouraged. “Oy vey.”

George Cushing, a tad discouraged. “Oy Vey.”

In one of her last columns before she left for a higher rung on the journalistic ladder, Stephanie Chelf wrote an article for the Newburyport Daily News, Thursday, October 5, 2006 on a zoning amendment that would protect our historic heritage and our local neighborhood character.

The zoning amendment that would address Newburyport’s out of control infill issue.

So why is George Cushing discouraged? It is because of this quote by Mayor John Moak:

“Mayor John Moak said he wants to make sure the ordinance doesn’t lead to a design review by the zoning board.

‘I’m not ready to endorse it,” Moak said. “There is a lot to it to absorb.’”

Actually, there’s not a lot to absorb, it’s real easy. There is no mention anywhere of any design review (and why that would be a bad thing beats me, and it beats George Cushing the new political consultant as well, good grief.)

The Zoning Amendment or the “Infill Ordinance” talks about “size, scale, massing, volume and location of the proposed structure,” making sure those aspects would be in keeping with the local neighborhood character.

What George Cushing is just so darn frustrated about is that Mayor John Moak still doesn’t seem to get it. Protecting our historic heritage and local neighborhood character is the key to long-term and short-term economic growth.

Destroying our historic heritage and neighborhood character is a sure fire way to have Newburyport’s economic value go down the tubes real fast.

This zoning amendment is not a “cure-all,” as Newburyport City Councilor Tom Jones points out in the same article, but it sure is a real good piece of the puzzle. And why in the world Mayor John Moak isn’t getting that baffles, bewilders, perplexes and mystifies the editor of the Newburyport Political Blog.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport