Bridgewater Quick Chek Saga: Letter to the Editor

The following letter was submitted by the Bridgewater Residents United regarding the proposed Quick Chek project:

Last year, in June 2015, the Bridgewater residents living near the Tectonic site first learned that a large multi-million-dollar organization wanted to build a 5,700 square foot convenience store with a 16-pump gas station. The applicant was seeking 22 variances, including a use variance. The proposal would cause immense harm to our quality of life and irreparable harm to the Master Plan of Bridgewater since the proposed use is not permitted in the C-3 zone. However, only folks within 200 feet of the site received notice of this application – which meant that only a small amount of people actually knew about these plans. Despite the odds, a small group of neighbors began to rally opposition by walking door-to-door for the next zoning hearing. That small group was able to gather about 70 neighbors for the June 2015 zoning hearing, which turned out to be just a spark for the fire that would soon span the course of the next nine months and would reach over 1,000 Bridgewater committed residents in opposition to the application.

Over the next month, our fellow neighbors worked on how we should best utilize our resources, who would take on various reports, who would raise funds and who would rally support for the opposition. The petition, led by the Bridgewater Chinese Association, yielded extremely great results of over 1,300 resident signatures and huge awareness for the RT22/RT28 proposal. As we approached August, we were able to gather over 300 residents who were anxious and furious based on the impact of increased traffic, environmental impacts, economic impacts, violation of the Master Plan, and how it would affect their quality of life. The movement became social media savvy, compiling a list of over 200 emails, creating a Facebook page, and developing direct contacts with and interest from local news outlets. Residents from all over Bridgewater wanted to get involved in the opposition to protect the sanctity of the Master Plan.

After the August meeting, we continued to build momentum with our opposition. Even though the next meeting in September was the same night as back-to-school night, many neighbors came to show their opposition and emailed and called the Zoning Board to delay the hearing. Around the time of the November meeting, a few residents came together and formed an organization, Bridgewater Residents United, a non-profit organization focused on what’s important to Bridgewater residents and businesses. The opposition now had overwhelming support from residents, which included putting up lawn signs, handling door-to-door campaigns, attending weekly meetings, raising awareness, contributing their hard-earned dollars towards retaining an attorney and a planner, preparing tough questions that had to be answered by the applicant as to traffic, environmental, site plan, master plan, and accident statistics issues, and especially asking intelligent questions of the applicant’s witnesses. We are so thankful to have such amazing and passionate neighbors who are concerned about our community. Folks from all around town rallied to our opposition efforts.

We also would like to thank the local businesses, specifically, Bashar, Jim and Vijay from Somerville Shell, All Tire & Service, and Sunoco 28, who have advised us and assisted us throughout the process. We also appreciate the hard work of our attorneys, Asaad K. Siddiqi and Heather G. Suarez, with Walder Hayden, and our expert planner, Peter Steck – they were available all the time, whether for in person meetings over the weekend or for long phone calls at all hours of the day. With their involvement, we received the guidance necessary to efficiently continue our opposition and increase our chances for success.

As we moved through the last meeting on February 2, Mr. Steck had begun to testify with Ms. Suarez leading the questioning. Many of the residents could feel the momentum and felt extremely confident in our chances. Just as we were preparing for the next hearing, we learned that the application had been withdrawn on Friday, February 19. Success was finally at hand!

We again want to thank the Bridgewater residents and small businesses for their support. Let us continue to keep Bridgewater great and to make sure that we protect the quality of life that we seek by happily calling Bridgewater our home. This is a significant victory for the residents of Bridgewater and demonstrates what we can accomplish together. It truly was a team effort.

Your Neighbors,

Bridgewater Residents United

www.facebook.com/BWRU1