15 June, 2015
Below is a letter Board of Selectmen Chair Ben Palleiko sent to President of "Cross Point Associates Incorporated" John Hueber. Crosspoint Associates owns the former Colella's property and much criticism from residents was raised after a portion of the property was leased to CVS. The letter addressed the concerns of many Hopkinton Citizens that the CVS would negatively alter the integrity of downtown Hopkinton by hurting local business.
"Dear Mr. Hueber,
As you are aware, the Town Manager’s office has reached out to you multiple times in the past week
to schedule a meeting to discuss the proposed tenant in your new Hopkinton property. To date, we
have received limited responses from you and you have not offered any mutually acceptable time.
We are disappointed in your lack of responsiveness to an important issue.
There is a high level of concern in our Town about your plan to lease this property to CVS. In a
nation increasingly homogenized by chain stores, our community has taken significant pride in the
fact that we have, until recently, been able to maintain almost exclusively locally owned and run
businesses. The fate of the prior business on the site, largely as a result of a chain coming to Town,
only increases the concern that the entry of CVS will severely damage the prospects of its only local
competitor, directly across the street.
Your property lies in the center of our Town, on the main road. Although we respect property rights
and free enterprise, the goal of our community is always to encourage development that improves
our quality of life and makes Hopkinton even better for our residents. The widely held belief in
Town is that this new tenant and Crosspoint are both pursuing activities that, though privately
beneficial, are harmful to the overall community. Our citizens have strongly held views about other
types of businesses that might better support the Town without harming your interests.
Opportunity comes with obligation. Your company owes it to the Town to engage with us in a
proper manner, to be attentive to the concerns expressed, and to contemplate other ways to grow
your business that are more respectful of those impacted and better suited to the needs of the Town.
For all these reasons, I ask that you promptly contact the Town Manager’s office to schedule this
meeting, or reach out to me directly at: bpalleiko@hopkintonma.gov. For your information, this
subject will be an agenda item at the next meeting of the Board of Selectmen on June 23. You are
certainly welcome to attend.
Sincerely Yours,
Ben Palleiko
Chairman
Hopkinton Board of Selectmen"
