“I am handicapped and I am very strongly opposed to the approval of a re-zoning of this area for use in commercial activity,” Torcuato M. Castro said.
He said his house is very close to the proposed warehouse building.
In a letter to Saipan Zoning Administrator Douglas T. Wyatt, Castro said the beer-distributing company operating on island closes the road whenever it is putting a container on a ramp.
He said it takes the company 10 to 15 minutes to complete setting up the container.
“I need the access road to be clear all the time in case of an emergency,” he added.
Castro said the Zoning Office must deny the application of the warehouse and advise its owner to stay in the Lower Base area or rent one of the old garment factory warehouses.
The warehouse owner, he said, owns and operates a company in Lower Base which is within the port and industrial area.
“They operate a wholesale type of business selling liquor and cigarettes on Saipan and Guam,” he said, adding that the company is also selling feeds and fertilizers and “if not properly handled could cause environmental and health problems” in the village.
Castro also expressed concern about the possible entry of the brown tree snakes.
“You and I know that these containers are brought in sometimes from Guam and they may bring in or introduce the pest from Guam called the brown tree snakes into our small, quiet and peaceful village of Susupe,” he told Wyatt in his letter.
Castro also questioned the proposed warehouse operation in their area, saying the turning radius is not sufficient to accommodate a 20-foot container when making a clean turn to get into the corner of Susupe St.
“A 20- or 40-foot container needs or requires at minimum 45- or 50-foot turning radius according to an engineering company that I contacted,” he told Wyatt.
He asked Wyatt to keep all residential areas absolutely for residential development only.
