Oakley Revived Symmetry

Steve Smith presents a scaled‑down parcel inside Oakley, a patchwork of post office, Ken’s Kash, a hardware store, and a few compact townhouses, all framed by the pale white of Center Street and the looming Route 32. The plan offers a coffee‑shop podium where the historic creamery would sit, a modest park mirroring the layout of a postcard small town, and a single parking ring that keeps vehicles from choking the inch‑wide sidewalks. Matt Wirthlin, the city’s attorney, contends that the developer’s bite‑size approach satisfies the Planning Commission’s insistence on green space; Tom Smart’s call for “walkability” matches the figurative symmetry of his own directories. Christopher Dillman’s and Amy Regan’s boardings echo a cautious hope that an oversized transplant will never eclipse the native sandstone of any commercial building. In terms of ROI, the numbers are flat, the ROI curve peels slowly, and the aesthetic of oxidized copper is absent. The only reasonable verdict: Sell, and let the HOA toast the lost dreams of a true community.