We, along with others from our immediate neighborhood, attended board hearings last summer on a proposal to construct a duplex at the southeast corner of Greeley Avenue and North Main Street.

Among the concerns expressed were that rain and snow runoff would create drainage problems because of the contours of the lot, which is well below the Route 9 roadway.

Some of us expressed serious concern about the lack of parking on what is essentially a narrow 100-yard cul-de-sac, and the impact of two additional housing units on a street that is barely long enough to accommodate the three existing homes.

We were not persuaded that adequate attention was given to the parking and traffic problems that could result from the introduction of this new structure. We even introduced photos to illustrate the narrowness of the right of way and the lack of existing on-street parking spaces.

Furthermore, some of us were concerned about the scale of the structure in relationship to the size of the lot, even though it appeared to meet certain sideyard and frontage requirements.

There was some testimony by planning board members that the structure would cover some 55 percent of the lot, although it was not clear if that figure included the existing two-bay garage which will remain, but be moved to the rear of the property in order to meet setback requirements.

The entire hearing process was conducted on the basis of plans tacked to a blackboard and explained by the developer. It is fair to say that probably some members of the board - at least those who were present - didn’t even know where Greeley Avenue was, or what the lot looked like, other than through the representations filed with the planning board or on display in the Council chamber on the occasion of the two hearings.

There was no testimony by staff members that indicated they had viewed the property in question and been assured that what was proposed was consistent with the regulations and good planning.

Certainly, there was no evidence of a visitation by members of the planning board to the site to try to understand what was proposed in relationship to the actual site, the neighboring properties and the existing roadway, traffic and parking issues that were raised by some of us.

Making a decision that will have lasting consequences for other residents should oblige the board members - all of them - to make a on-site visit to assure themselves they understand fully what was being proposed and why some people might be opposed to the proposal.

Now that the duplex - which is planning jargon for two structures - is taking shape and its scale is fully evident, we who live nearby are appalled, and angry that our concerns were heard and dismissed with so little understanding by the board.

As is often the case when the board wants to pretend that it is concerned by abutters fears, it approved the duplex with the condition that the developer plant a screen of shrubs around the building. Big deal. It is going to take at least 40 or 50 years for those shrubs to grow tall enough to mask the towering scale of the duplex.

What has been approved is the construction of two large homes on a building lot only adequate for a single-family home, if that. The scale of this project is totally inappropriate in terms of the size of the lot or the length of the street on which it is situated. It is doubtful there is any similar new structure of this scale built on a single lot anywhere else in Northampton.

And as the size and shape of the structure become more apparent, the deleterious consequences for those of us who had questions about its propriety in the first place will become all too evident.

To meet the parking requirement for the duplex, the board accepted the illogical notion that the mandated four parking spaces are met by two cars always being parked in the garage and two more in the very short driveway. Thus, no cars will ever be parked on-street. That’s is nonsensical and the planning board knew as much when it gave its approval to go forward.

Increasingly, it appears there are no developments that perplex or worry the planning board; the burden is always on neighborhoods and interested citizens to raise issues, never the board. One thinks of the Beaver Brook proposal in Leeds, the ill-conceived gas station at the Stop and Shop property off King Street, the Carlon Drive development, the Bridge Road housing project, the most recent housing development off Route 66, and, of course, the huge development eyed for the State Hospital property.

This particular planning board and, by implication, its paid professional staff totally embrace all development as good and as ones that should go forward, once the various hearings have worn down and silenced the pesky critics.

We invite you to visit what has variously been called an "abortion" and a "disaster" by people of our acquaintance (who do not live in the neighborhood) who have some familiarity with planning and its goals for maintaining a livable and harmonious community.

Come to North Main and Greeley Avenue and see what this work in progress you have unleashed looks like, feels like, and be humbled, even humiliated, that you had any constructive part to play in this blight. Shame on you and the people in your employ for copping out, for not doing your job.