What kind of 'roots' is developer contemplating?

This letter is in regard to the proposed Lakes at Heron development near Heron, Mont.

It is an enlightening exercise to follow the "plans of a developer" as he seeks to "put down roots" in our small community in western Montana. As we says, "Heron is a fine little place, I plan on living there myself."

Well, that's just fine. I'm glad to have him. I suppose that, like most of us here, he has an honest desire to leave behind the rat race and to embrace a quieter, kinder, simpler life; to slow down his heart beat and to breathe clean air.

I suppose that he has had enough of traffic congestion, urban sprawl, gated communities and other progressive signs of the times.

Why else would he want to move?

But, it is funny, it doesn't appear that he appreciates Heron in the way that it is.

Why else would he seek to drastically alter the community overnight and then to "gate the alteration," making it off limits to everyone else.

Putting down roots must mean different things to different people.

What sort of roots are we speaking of here? The kind of roots that grow deeply into the community ethos, enhancing the community's long-standing characteristics, of the kind of roots which will most likely run amuck; from which almost any sort of aberration is liable to sprout?

BARRY JOHNS

Upper River Road

Heron, Mont.