I PLAN to clip out Sunday’s editorial, “CRBI way off base,” and tape it into the back of my copy of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax”, if only because the piece in the paper so well illustrates the willful ignorance of the statement, “business is business and business must grow.” The editorial implied everything from the Ledbetter’s failure to apply for the correct permit as a silly goof (it wasn’t) to the idea that various strains of nature, like poison oak, are lurking around the bend waiting to exact their itchy revenge on unsuspecting humans. The only way to beat back this ravenous ecology is to pummel it with strip malls, apparently.

This same editorial page has often encouraged Rome to celebrate those aspects of the community that make us unique, to promote those qualities, and to capitalize on those features to enhance our economic potential. Yet another hub of chain retail centers, Mexican restaurants and nail salons does not make us unique. A protected wetlands near our city center does, especially in a climate more and more intrigued by ecotourism.

The argument made in the piece operates on a false dichotomy, implying that without this specific development in this specific spot, Romans will forever pine for the elusive retailers whose names are heard whispering through the grapevine. The Ledbetter’s continued insistence on this one ecologically vulnerable area for their new profit-driven playground reminds me of a toddler stomping his foot and hollering, “I want it the way I want it!” In this scenario, CRBI functions exactly as it should — as the patient adult in the room who sets clear boundaries and spells out the consequences of petulant actions.