Letter: It’s time for the city to relax a little bit

To the editor,

I spend time watching the City Council meetings and get so frustrated doing so. So many times when a citizen comes before the planning commission and then the city council for approval on site plans, a variance or any other item that needs approval they refer to Burnsville does it this way or Apple Valley does it this way or Woodbury does it this way.

What is wrong with Hastings being Hastings like it used to be?

I am a lifelong resident of Hastings and we were not a bad little town when I was growing up. Not that we are a bad town now, but I don't think we need to continue to be like all these other towns. I understand the need for regulations on some of the things we do but tonight while I watched part of the discussion was about whether a citizen would have enough room to pile some dirt in his own backyard without putting it on the ground surrounding a tree for fear of damaging the roots.

The city forester told them you need to leave a 10-foot diameter area under a tree alone or you risk damaging the root base.

I give credit to council member Tony Alongi for speaking up and saying that sometimes we need to relax just a little in how we run our city. I think it is time our Mayor and council members relax just a little and let Hastings be Hastings and not what they think it should be.

Mark Peters

Hastings

Tags: letters to the editor, opinion, hastings, minnesota, spiral, local, may