PITTSFIELD – There are two candidates for the Town Council this November, and although both are running unopposed, their distinctive views on how to develop Pittsfield mirror a split community.

Some in the town want it to remain a bedroom community that focuses on neighborhoods and education and frowns on encouragement of 24-hour businesses that pay minimum wages with no benefits.

Others want more focus on business development throughout town, moving into nontraditional areas such as farmland to help lower property taxes.

What drives the division – and the issue that town councilors and planning board members are grappling with – is the impact of both directions and how much direction the town’s comprehensive plan should provide.

Michael Gray, a councilor seeking his second three-year term, has followed a strong pro-business stance and has repeatedly initiated and voted for zoning changes that would allow business expansion into farmland and resource areas.

Gary Jordan, a former mayor who is seeking to return to the council, is also pro-business, but wants a more impact-based procedure and said that current decisions are changing Pittsfield’s foundation.

In recent interviews, Gray, 58, said the comprehensive plan is a working document. “But we have found a lot of things that need changing. In the past several years, making such changes has brought a lot of new business opportunities to Pittsfield, and that will continue.”

He said this is “not growth for growth’s sake,” but added, “We have been very fortunate for the last three years that we have not had a tax increase. That is not going to happen this year.”

Economic development is the only way to keep taxes in line, Gray maintained. “We need massive infrastructure improvements, a new swimming pool, and other developments. Without new businesses, the residents will foot the bill for them.”

Gray said that apathy has played a key role in the polarization of the town. “I got on the council to bring the opportunity to the people to make a change. Do they take advantage of that? No. We can’t operate in a vacuum. My ideas may not be your ideas, but unless you come and talk to me, I can’t hear what you have to say.”

Jordan, 42, agreed that the public often does not let the town’s leaders know how it feels, but said that when an important issue is before the council, “We have a responsibility to make some noise.”

Jordan said that each decision made by officials should be assessed as to impact and the possibility that more public involvement may be required, particularly if those decisions will affect open space or resource areas.

“A good example is the Pinnacle Park and the community theater,” Jordan said. “I look at those as wonderful examples of how this town can provide both a lifetime skill and an appreciation of the arts. I don’t know any other town that has that. If you start commercializing those ventures, the children that cannot afford higher fees and admission will be left behind.”

As for the comprehensive plan, Gray said he feels the document is a guide, that it should be one tool among many that councilors use. But Gray said the town’s ordinance committee, which he chairs, has found many areas that need changing to allow economic development to proceed.

One controversial example is the ordinance committee’s recommendation to change a resource protection zone to limited commercial status to allow a local developer to expand a golf course and build town houses.

“We have a system in place that allows a single citizen to come in and talk to us and bring about stable change,” Gray said.

Jordan, however, said that the first sentence of the plan is “Pittsfield has a long tradition of planning” and that should not be abandoned. “The comprehensive plan is everyone’s voice. It may be a guideline, but we have to support it.”

Jordan said the key to the comprehensive plan is clearly written. It says, “The rural and urban areas should be equally valued, and to protect and enhance one will have a positive impact on the other.”

“Pittsfield has never been about the big money,” Jordan said. “We offer tons of services, love, education – and look toward increasing recreational opportunities. We don’t want this changed.”