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Qualicum Beach waterfront plan should be more open

I contacted town staff about viewing the public’s comments online but was told that I could only view them at the town office.

The Town of Qualicum Beach should be more open with the draft Waterfront Master Plan and the public should weigh in now because we will pay for the results.

I contacted town staff about viewing the public’s comments online but was told that I could only view them at the town office. I can read the draft plan and watch council meetings online, so why not the public’s actual e-mailed comments?

I dispute editor John Harding’s recent claim of a “probable lack of input from younger people, from families and the subsequent lack of fun, food, music and business opportunities.” That’s misleading — the editor doesn’t know who did or didn’t submit input, or their views.

Furthermore, I visit our waterfront three-four days a week, year round. I have never seen or heard anyone of any age complain of a lack of fun, music or food.

Instead, I see toddlers, teens and young adults enjoying themselves swimming, paddle boarding, boogey boarding and playing in the surf.

I see multi-generational families picnicking, sun-bathing, reading and lounging on the beach floats. I see cyclists, runners, skateboarders and kayakers.

Qualicum Beach’s waterfront is our golden egg. If we turn our waterfront into a developer’s paradise to look like everywhere else, our economic goose will be cooked.

A young dad from elsewhere on the Island recently commented that his small city has become an over-commercialized Coney Island with no hope of reclaiming a livable community like we have in Qualicum Beach.

Remember, the impetus and objective of this Waterfront Master Plan is to protect our waterfront from climate change; this is not a business development plan.

Intelligent and innovative improvements to protect our waterfront can also enhance our economy, as long as we do not compromise Qualicum Beach’s most precious natural asset by cluttering it with commerce.

Joan SampsonQualicum Beach