Donna Clairmont: This neighbor does not welcome low-barrier shelter at Isaiah 61

To The Daily Sun,

On Jan. 4, I attended the Laconia Planning Board meeting regarding the low-barrier shelter application by Isaiah 61. As I have previously stated I am opposed to the shelter, mostly because I do not feel the owners have done a good job of managing the current Isaiah 61 Cafe. As part of the owners’ presentation Mr. Dave Longval indicated that he had taken issue with the Zoning Board Meeting where it was represented as a chaotic establishment by me. He went on to present his analysis of the 2021 police calls to Isaiah 61, which he portrayed as minimal incidents. As part of his analysis he pointed out that in 2017, prior to Isaiah 61 acquiring the property, there were two police calls to 104 New Salam St. I take great issue with this reference to the two calls to my property, especially when it has no bearing on the issue at hand and they were not impacted by either incident. They are quick to preach the Bible and yet stoop to such low standards. I believe in the Bible there is a verse that says “Love thy neighbor as thy loves thy self.”

Of greater concern was that I had to read in the paper that they were proposing a chain link fence, in response to the Zoning Board’s recommendation that a fence be installed between Isaiah 61 and my property. A member of the Planning Board asked the question if the abutter had been asked about the type of fence and no answer was given. It was not until later in the meeting that the Planning Board asked me about the type of fence. Obviously the Planning Board was not compelled to seek my input to this matter. Also, a Planning Board member asked if they had received all information relative to this application, including any emails. The member answered "yes." At 5:34 p.m., prior to the meeting, I had sent an email to the Head of the Planning Department with the information that I had received from the Laconia Police Department — 12 pages of police calls to Isaiah 61 since their opening. On Jan. 5 I called to find out if the Planning Board had been given this information and was told "no." I asked the person on the phone if he had received the email and he responded “that he could not recall.” What an injustice.

Lastly, during the public input part of the meeting, an individual went to the podium and turned and asked how long I had lived in my home. I informed him 42 years He went on to say “variety is the spice of life and that he was going to start a GoFundMe and would buy me out.” How disrespectful, this is my home, not just a house, my children were raised in this home, my grandchildren only know this to be where their grandparents live, there are many fond memories that money cannot buy. Shame on them.

Donna Clairmont

Laconia