Letters

We are polarized. We need to break this cycle.

We are all part of this community, and we all have a personal relationship with it. The way we use the town and the land, the way we greet our neighbors and rally around town needs. Some of us are new to the area, and some have been here for generations. People come and go — much like the tides, we ebb, and we flow. Without ebbs and flows there is no life.

We are not the same. We have our own agendas.

I would like to see the field built, because I have two boys growing up in this community, and they play soccer. I spend hours of time a month driving to other fields. I would like to see it built for the opportunities that sports offer our children.

I understand viewpoints that are counter to my own — if I didn’t have children in the school, if my children were more arts-oriented, if I owned a home across the street or in the vicinity. I understand, we have a responsibility to the environment. I understand, we need to act as stewards, to protect small towns against rampant development.

We have lots that will be developed one way or another. Whether it is homes or field, the trees are coming down. Some of us are for the field, some for the houses.

What if we took the opportunity to explore a middle ground? What if we took a different vantage point and incorporated everyone’s input?

Let’s get creative. Why does a sport field have to be so intrusive to the site? Can we at least talk about what an ideal vision of the land would look like? Let’s get excited about this project!

What if we built the soccer field into the landscape? What if the site was a community park with a field, not a park with couple of benches and nothing to do but an interactive park?

How about natural hills for seating vs. bleachers? Where families can put a blanket down and picnic. Can the sport field be used for arts, shows, music?

Can the parking lot be something other than concrete? Can we add in owl nests, water features for birds and small animals?

Let’s explore a project that includes everyone’s input, and let’s check lots of boxes.

Finally, let’s use Marsden as an opportunity to also redesign how we approach issues within our community. Let’s create a template where we have meaningful conversations, where all opinions are expressed and addressed. There will be compromises, there will be debate, but the solution will be a community win. Not a win where a group is defeated. A win.

Ian and Alicia Welch

Sag Harbor