Editor’s note: This is a letter to Squamish’s mayor and council. It was copied to the Squamish Chief for publication.
Congratulations to council and the citizens of Squamish for a well-run public hearing regarding the Scott Crescent proposal. It felt like a tie between those for the development and those opposed. Consensus seems to be that our town needs to promote development, but not at the expense of severe disruption of existing neighbourhoods. Even opponents saw the benefits of developing the Scott Crescent eyesore. But the pains that current residents of the area will have to endure, such as increased traffic flow, unsafe driveways, dangerous access to Highway 99 and likely reduced property value may be too high.
The self-serving statement that “data trumps emotion” should not conceal the fact that “poor data generates emotion.” And that is the crux of the problem with this 400-unit proposal. Both the developers and our municipal council have failed to convince most people, especially the residents of Clarke Drive, that increased vehicular traffic will not create unsafe conditions. Shifting the developers’ burden for traffic flow onto local streets is a cheap solution that may prove costly in the future.
Doing what is right for today’s citizens should be the primary goal of our municipal council. A close second is the need to foster development. This project shows good potential and could be approved subject to an amicable compromise on the traffic circulation.
James Gracie
Squamish
