Editor's Note: This is a letter to the editor from the Wildwood Preservation Alliance.
To Our Neighbors in the Independent State of Dade,
The scenic beauty of our land and independent nature of our citizenry faces great peril. Our action today is needed.
A recent land acquisition in Wildwood is at the crux of our concern in the immediate term. But make no mistake, our present predicament is merely a single instance in a long line of unsavory development.
The proposed tenants of this future development would be relocating from two poultry processing plants. In their current locales, these facilities continually run afoul of existing laws targeting chicken litter disposal and noxious odors. Why should we expect things to change when their operations move next door?
We need your support. We encourage everyone to attend the public hearing on September 30 at 6 p.m. in the Dade Administrative Building. This hearing serves to gather public input on the adoption of an ordinance that would allow citizens to regulate what sort of industrial development occurs in the unincorporated parts of the County.
Conservation of our scenic lands and future industrial development aren’t mutually exclusive. However, reclaiming our fields and forests once such development occurs is nearly impossible.
We leave you with this parting question: how might your life change if the property next door transformed into a 300 acre industrial park?
--The Wildwood Preservation Alliance
