I am so pleased that Wal-Mart has lost out with its plans to desecrate the land. However, I am very concerned that not only in Bangor but so many other places, if the applicant crosses all the t’s and dots all the i’s the towns and cities cannot turn them down.

I had the funny feeling that people are more important than businesses, and if enough people in a community say they are against it, their voice should be the one heard and obeyed. No city or town should have to accept anyone coming in to disrupt the way of life of the community.

Aesthetically, these big box monstrosities are enough to convince residents that they’d be a bad thing, but then when you add the traffic, noise and poisoning of the air from fumes from the trucks and cars, and then the reality that the small businesses who have been the backbone of the area for years will be lost, the people should be the ones who have the final say. If this isn’t the case at the present time, perhaps the law should be changed so the people will come first.

Helen Crowe

Claremont, NH