Killingworth needs to stop thinking one intersection at a time.

I am running for selectman in Killingworth because I think that hour after hour and page after page of debate over a stop sign here or a road closing there misses the bigger point. Of course, we need to make our roads safer, but we should not let these issues obstruct our vision of the underlying problem: uncontrolled development.

Build a dozen houses along a quiet country road, and pretty soon you are arguing about yellow stripes, stop signs, and speed limits. Build a few dozen houses on one end of town, and a low road at the other end of town will flood. Fill our woods with new houses, and the town will feel more like a modern New York suburb than a historic country town.

Meanwhile, every new house that goes up costs the town much more than the new taxes it brings in. Lots more. Educating two children in our schools costs over $20,000 per year, far more than the taxes on even an above-average house. Our roads, the transfer station, emergency services--all face increased use with each new home. Heaven help us if we overburden our water supply and our soil and have to build a municipal sewer system.

Once we lose our open spaces, we can't get them back. Killingworth needs to focus on preserving open space - through acquisitions, through new zoning regulations, through new incentives for landowners. We need to do it now or, no matter how much we lower the speed limits, our roads will be intolerable. We have to do more than respond to each specific situation that comes up. Our selectmen, in particular, should keep their eyes on the whole map and not get stuck at each individual corner. While they are thinking about the sightlines on Green Hill Road, they must also keep the future clearly in view.

Catherine Iino