We’re All NIMBYs

The “solar farm” proposed for the old landfill next to Amherst Woods is generating fierce opposition from some neighbors. And discussion about developing a “Gateway” corridor — a residential-retail project — connecting UMass and downtown has faced vocal objections from nearby residents.

It’s easy to dismiss this opposition as selfish Not-In-My-BackYard NIMBYism, but the truth is, none of us likes to bear the brunt of change. It’s natural to be a NIMBY.

There’s an inherent fairness question whenever one group is asked to make a change for the benefit of the larger community. But the answer is not to avoid any change at all, for fear of hurting someone. The answer is to get as clear as possible about (1) why we need to change, (2) what the actual costs and benefits will be, and (3) how risk will be apportioned.

Change happens. We all feel a sense of loss when we lose what’s comfortable and familiar. We certainly need to assess the risks and costs of change, but we also need to realize that if we do nothing to improve our local revenues, we are opting for change nonetheless. It is simply the change that comes from repeatedly cutting away at our town’s quality of life, leaving ourselves at the mercy of state and national trends that are beyond our control.

We’ve already cut $7 million out of our town services in the past few years. The library held a barbecue fundraiser to keep Friday service hours. We closed an elementary school to keep from wiping out arts and music. And we’re all driving around potholes and wondering where the money will come from to fix them.

The solar farm and Gateway are big, game-changing projects that offer us the opportunity to take control of our financial destiny for years into the future. They do so by leveraging our green values and college-town resources.

But they have to be done right. We would love to see neighbors of these projects take the approach of “How can we make this work?” rather than “This has to stop at all costs.” We began to see this approach at the Gateway visioning sessions last week; we hope this constructive engagement continues.

On the solar farm, let’s approach the questions carefully and fully. Landfill neighbors want greater clarity on the actual, net revenues that will be generated by the solar farm; we agree that the best possible financial information should be provided to Town Meeting.

One neighbor compared the solar farm to a nuclear power plant, saying there’s a small risk of a catastrophic event. Let’s lose the hyperbole but answer the valid questions about the likelihood of an accidental breach of the landfill cap, how catastrophic such a breach would be, and, as one homeowner put it, “Who’s going to help me if there’s a leak and my property value goes to zero?”

Town Meeting should hear how these risks will be assessed and what the ultimate approval process will be. But then Town Meeting should vote Yes to let negotiations proceed on a project plan that will still need to face regulatory scrutiny.

Finally, we need to be as clear-eyed about the “devil we know” as we are imaginative about the “devil we don’t”. Gateway neighbors live in a college town with lots of college students. Solar farm neighbors live next to an old dump now. These proposals shouldn’t be weighed against a pristine world without these pre-existing conditions.

Under the right circumstances, we’re all NIMBYs. But let’s work to avoid the hyperbole and collaborate on solutions that help our town while not unfairly penalizing single households. By putting ourselves in our neighbors’ shoes, we can make sure we get the best answers possible to key questions of cost, benefit, risk, and fairness, as we work to secure a more stable fiscal future for us all.