Progress Comes to a Progressive Town in New Hampshire
by Ed Naile
Henniker, “The Only Henniker On Earth,” a liberal enclave funded by a small college and existing for the benefit of a few wealthy, connected locals. The small town just went through an agonizing experience.
In the face of overwhelming vocal opposition from liberal transplants a Dollar General store has anchored itself smack dab – just outside of down town.
Oh, the horrors!
I went to one of the hearings before this Dollar General store was approved, on a piece of commercial property yards from where another business was stopped from establishing itself. This would have been a drug store but the owners who paid commercial taxes on a lot along Rt. 114 for decades were denied a chance to sell it for what it was worth.
What a happy outcome for the elites – that time.
What was done a few years ago to a Dunkin Donuts just down to the road by the Henniker planning gurus can only be described as parking lot torture. The Town approved the Dunkin Donuts after cutting up about an acre of parking into a one-way entrance no exit without GPS exit. Someday there will be an emergency there and all will be understood. But for now the attention of the progressive elites in Henniker is trained on that damn Dollar General.
I like to call it “The Only Dollar General in Henniker On Earth.” I intend to shop there. The Dollar General store in nearby Hillsboro is jammed all the time – as is the drug store and State Liquor Store. (People from Henniker have to drive to Concord or Warner because they can’t shop in Henniker – where there is no shopping. (I imagine they would prefer Burlington Vt.)
Too bad Henniker isn’t lofty enough for a Starbucks. They could build in Henniker and float it on a raft full of sewage system waste and get approved – if a certain family or two floated the project. (Oh wait, that almost happened until CNHT helped take the issue to Merrimack Superior Court.)
In any case, I will be strolling around Dollar General in Henniker soon picking up my corned beef hash and catsup. Hopefully I can go there and sit by the new, beautiful lake they built just for shoppers to park next to.