The public hearing held at the Town of Wawarsing Planning Board Meeting last week illuminated an important aspect about the residents of the town as a whole…mainly, it seemed, that the town itself is not really a whole at all.

Yes, the members of this community all live within set and defined borders which make up "the Town of Wawarsing," the entity with which Wal-Mart's representatives must contend to bring their retail store to the area.

However, the public hearing, which drew a large number of residents (certainly well over a hundred, given the fact that Village Hall's 99 seats were filled, leaving dozens to line the walls and clog the doorway), demonstrated that the concerns of the public differ wildly from each other.

This should be no surprise; people are different, and have different needs and wants…no great revelation there. But the intense difference in those needs and wants — and the reactions of the respective needers and wanters to each other — showed just how disparate and different from each other the residents of this town really are.

On the one hand, there were the "critics" of Wal-Mart's site and sketch plans — critics in quotes, of course, since everyone has long ago accepted that the company's arrival in the community is already a foregone conclusion. While many critics brought up legitimate and important concerns, such as issues regarding the building's drainage, environmental impact and sustainability, and how its presence will affect the area's traffic patterns, others were seemingly obsessed simply with how the building will look. While any member of a community has the right to ensure that his or her neighborhood look its best, vehement insistence on what basically amounts to cosmetic changes seems misguided.

On the other hand, the reactions of residents who want Wal-Mart here yesterday to those concerned about what the retailer has in store for the community was equally misguided. Times are tough — of that, there is no doubt. And these tough times are creating a frustrating and frightening atmosphere for many, particularly those who are looking for jobs and trying to keep their costs low — needs that the arrival of a Wal-Mart would appear to meet. But treating those who bring up their concerns and suggestions to Wal-Mart's representatives as though they are taking food directly out of children's mouths is an overreaction at best, and dangerously divisive at worst. While everyone seems to agree that Wal-Mart is a necessary addition to the community, desperately taking whatever they offer will only hurt the community in the long-run, and everyone will wind up worse off than they are right now.

People on both ends of the spectrum need to find some common ground towards the middle. Only as a unified front can a community such as Wawarsing ensure that the best situation possible is created. If centrists in this process are the minority and residents refuse to listen to each other, the words of those on both sides of this issue will continue to cancel each other out, simply creating noise, and transforming a public hearing into a public hard of hearing.

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