Dear Marion Planning Board:

As a child that has lived in Marion for ten out of my ten years, I know better than anyone how special and astonishing our town really is. CVS is a nationwide, household name, big box store. You know that Marion is not a fit for this. So please don’t let this box in our beautiful, unique town. I believe CVS should not be allowed at the gateway to Marion because there is already too much traffic, their presence will lead to small businesses going bankrupt, and it sets a bad example for American taxpayers. Most residents and visitors do not want it, and because it destroys the beauty of the Captain Hadley House, let’s solve this issue as a community.

Do you want to be backed up trying to get in to the village of Marion? Well, I don’t want to be. There is already too much traffic at the intersection of the Captain Hadley House and Cumberland Farms. Sadly, this corner has the record for the most car crashes in town. CVS is estimating that 500 cars will go in and out of their parking lot daily. Can you guess what this number of cars will make happen? Lets see, there’s going to be even more accidents.

Another reason why I believe CVS should not be in Marion is because their presence will lead to small businesses going out of business. Our town is filled with many local businesses that help us daily. The business that will be affected the most is the Marion General Store. This store sells all of your essentials, toiletries, meat, vegetables, cooking and baking ingredients, snacks, candy, pet needs, medicine and much more. The General Store already competes against the local franchise, Cumberland Farms. If you open another big box store in our town, what you’re basically saying is that I don’t care if one of the most important things in our community is destroyed. This is the center of our town, the younger generation’s meeting spot. Don’t let it crash and burn.

CVS is planning to move their corporation offshore in order to avoid paying U.S. income tax. So this kind of company can sell candy, trinkets, and Gatorade (in addition to prescription drugs) at huge profit levels that justify enormous land leases, put general stores out of business, and we allow them to leave the United States tax rolls. Can you believe that we would let a company that is trying to avoid the U.S. laws in our town? It sets a bad example for youngsters.

The Captain Hadley House is a very important part of Marion’s history. It might just seem like an office building that’s taking up space, but it’s not. As Margie Baldwin stated at our town meeting last October, “We used to have four historic buildings at each corner of our town. But now, sadly, we only have one left. The Captain Hadley House.” Seeing this building every time you come into our town, you are reminded of the beautiful history of Marion.

Finally, the CVS company should not be in our unique village because many people have already said NO to having this pharmacy come to our town. A petition done by Tinker and Bill Saltonstall shows that 2,191 residents and visitors to Marion voted NO towards CVS. I personally did a poll through my 5th grade class at Sippican Elementary and the majority of the children stated clearly that they don’t want a big box store in the town they are growing up in. Isn’t your job to do the right thing for the whole entire community? Listen to the children; we are the people that will be here in the long run.

To save this town from turning into a city, we need to stop CVS. This box store should not be allowed at their gateway to Marion or anywhere in Marion. As a ten year old, I have learned to respect the process of the planning board as I watched you deal with Mark Investments at both meetings. There is already too much traffic. I’m not lying, traffic records prove it. Local businesses will go bankrupt. Many residents and visitors to our little community say NO to CVS. Petitions through all age groups speak loud and clear. This destroys the beauty of the Captain Hadley House. As I said in the beginning, I am a child that has lived here for a decade … my whole entire life. I’ve ridden my bike to Jack Cheney’s General Store. I’ve been driven by the Captain Hadley House, I’ve enjoyed getting greeted by the man who owns the General Store every day, and I know that the owner of the whole entire CVS company does not stand outside and greet us when we come in. I’ve enjoyed driving by the historic building. I’ve personally loved going past the Captain Hadley House, but never really enjoyed going into the CVS in Fairhaven or Wareham. I don’t want anymore car crashes. So let’s make a stop to this riot and keep intact the beauty of our town.

Thank you,

Tasha Sudofsky

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.