Re: Parksville development draws opposition (The NEWS, July 10).
There are 300 or so citizens who are grievously concerned about the future of their neighborhood.
We signed a petition a number of years ago saying so. We attended town meetings in large numbers and let our concerns be known. It was a moving show of solidarity, all those people coming together for a common purpose.
The amazing thing is, it worked! We stopped the re-zoning request because it was a bad idea. It is still a bad idea.
So why is it we are being called to action for round number 2?
Why has our city council let this proposal for the same property (the 400-block of Hirst Ave.), and for a similar, albeit slightly smaller development, get so dangerously close to approval?
It is one more meeting, and the result of one last vote away from said approval.Downsizing the development in the hope of appeasing folks is not the right answer. Refusing to rezone for a contentious request would have been the right course of action.
A development such as this is not the answer to a housing crisis, either, as I heard it suggested by a councillor. The crisis mainly refers to rentals. These units will likely be for sale. It could be years before they are rented and that will depend on the strata council that forms!
I cannot stress enough that speculation is a game of risk. You win some, you lose some. In this case the investor made a boo-boo. Or so you’d think.
We have heard a lot about core densification and quality of life surveys and such things. None of which seems to have been applied here.
If you put a pig in a dress, it is still a pig.
Carla Kenny
Parksville