TO THE EDITOR:
I’d like to express my support for the Hudson Logistics Center. By way of full disclosure, I live in Brookline but work in Hudson along Wentworth Drive. My route of travel takes me through the area under consideration.
The overarching fact is that e-commerce is a part of everyone’s life, and increasingly so. The packages you order from Amazon are trips you are not taking on our local roads and highways. Therefore, the traffic that this project might create is NOT purely additive. Vehicles are coming OFF the roads and highways as e-commerce accelerates.
E-commerce is also not purely defined by Amazon. Thousands of companies have an online presence, and these buildings will help streamline the supply chains for them as well. While Amazon is seen as the largest tenant at HLC, it isn’t the only one.
As with any development project, impacts need to be recognized and addressed. That is the democratic process. First, net tax revenues will increase.
That means $5.1 million annually that neither the golf course nor any other project would yield.
Second, there will be good jobs to be had. For example, while the use of robotics plays a large role in any project of this type, programmers and engineers are needed, and lots of them! That means great opportunities for Alvirne students and others in the region.
Third, traffic and perceived noise. This is a key consideration, and I believe the applicants have done a very good job addressing concerns. Indeed, the NH DOT is obviously going to step in and make improvements so that the effects of traffic and perceived noise are greatly mitigated. The state of New Hampshire sees the greater good here, and will lend their muscle to the project.
In conclusion, I’d like to stand in support of the HLC. I have seen the thought and care invested in this by Hillwood, and I see that they want this to be a “good-neighbor” project. From developing acoustical and traffic mitigation plans to the real prospects of higher tax revenues and jobs, they have done a great job thus far. I urge the Town of Hudson to see the HLC in that light.
Christopher Van Veen Brookline