EDITOR,
I attended a recent council meeting where the development permit for Jason Wood's Rivendale project was on the agenda. I also attended Mr. Wood's public meeting held on March 27, where a number of legitimate concerns, including variances which will allow two duplexes to literally shadow current residents, effective drainage which might harm fish and their habitat, pedestrian safety, and culvert stability were raised.
Foolishly, I believed these concerns were heard by both Jason Wood and the district planner. When I read the staff report previous to the council meeting, my heart sunk. It was a glowing endorsement for Rivendale; not a single concern from the public meeting had been considered.
Still, I believed that as information was provided during the meeting, a fair and reasonable solution could be found which met both the developer's and the residents' needs. I expected that Kevin Ramsay, his district planning staff and council members themselves would see that there were some very real issues that needed to be remedied.
I was so wrong; it truly was a "done deal." Furthermore, the planner had no difficulty supporting the query of how she could apply two different sets of bylaws from two different zoning regulations to fit Mr Wood's every request, just because they could, while also asserting there was no need to consider the existing neighbours harmed by the variance requests. Coun. Heintzman said it best when she said, "maybe we can, but we ought not to." Why was it so frightening to have Mr. Wood go back and address the variance concerns?
Let's be clear: This is not a case of NIMBYism. We are not against the Rivendale development, we just want it done right and fairly, and why not? It is entirely doable. Mr. Wood can still make his money, council will get tax revenue from the new owners and the residents, neighbourhood and fish need not be compromised.
In the end, however, councillors Raiser and Heintzman did not support the development application with the current variances, whereas the rest of council (Coun. Race had excused himself) supported the application and so it is done. Jason Wood will begin his development forthwith. We will continue to feel bad for those who will soon no longer receive light into their homes, hope the fish continue to thrive and I will hope that all pedestrians will be safe.
Di Gould
Brackendale
