A10 The Delta Optimist June 12, 2010 Letters to the Editor
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Editor: I find it rather coincidental that on the very day the Tsawwassen Area Plan survey arrived in my mailbox, I also received a “yellow sheet” from the NO side on the Southlands project full of exaggerations, halftruths, and outright lies. Let’s examine the myths espoused by these fraudsters: 1. An increase in traffic of 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles is a total exaggeration. The new development is targeted at people who will want to live and work locally. A new spirit of entrepreneurship will develop in our town. The impact on tunnel traffic will be about 10 per
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80 Street Overpass Project
The Corporation of Delta is hosting a Public Open House to update the community on the 80 Street Overpass Project.
The project, which involves the construction of an overpass at 80 Street near Boundary Bay Airport, is part of the multi-stakeholder Roberts Bank Rail Corridor Program and includes a two-lane overpass that will accommodate pedestrians and bicycles. With the expected expansion of rail traffic across the region, the 80 Street Overpass will benefit the community by minimizing traffic delays, improving safety and enhancing access to Boundary Bay Airport. The Open House will provide residents with the opportunity to learn about the project design, anticipated construction schedule and the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor (RBRC) Program. Project engineers, Delta staff and representatives from the RBRC Program will be in attendance to answer questions. Location Boundary Bay Airport, New Terminal 7800 Alpha Way, Delta
For more information on this project, visit www.robertsbankrailcorridor.ca or contact Delta’s Engineering Department at 604.946.3260.
to meet the new economic situation created by the HST implementation. No increase in the footprint of the development will occur. 9. The statement that there are “young families ...everywhere” is just plain silly. There is no question that our population is in decline and our age demographics are ever-increasing. We need to address this trend if our community is to become sustainable with respect to the environment, to socio-political issues and to economic reasons. 10. The plan is not a “massive” development. It will only add 180 people on average each year for the next 25 years to replace the population losses currently occurring. When you fill in your survey, please consider the real facts, not the myths put forward by the naysayers. Support for the Southlands in this survey does not preclude formal public hearings. You will be able to have your say on the specifics of the plan when it is formally presented to Delta council. John A. Meech
2. With regard to height, subdivision, infill housing, etc., what’s the point of getting public opinion when anything a developer wants (before or after approval) seems to get approved as a matter of course or by variance? Public hearings in this municipality have become meaningless; established guidelines and criteria have been reduced to merely the point from which staff and Delta council deviate. 3. The community has been told ad nauseam by Bruce McDonald, Harvie, the mayor and others involved that the Tsawwassen Area Plan is not about the Southlands. Yet the leading and longest question on the survey is devoted to the subject and weighted to soliciting an
answer that concedes some development. What a farce! One final thought: if we can’t have a by-election until September because too many residents are away on holidays and otherwise occupied — as Harvie has stated the reason for the delay — why is it fine to send out a survey during that period on a topic which will (or would if it were in any way valid) irrevocably and irreversibly change the entire community? Can the people in charge of spending our tax dollars even spell priorities? The only winner in this mess is Ipsos Reid, which is reportedly $15,000 to the good. It certainly isn’t the Delta taxpayers who are footing the bill. Lynne Kemp
It’s profit-seeking developers that built this place 06096799
The Corporation of Delta 4500 ClarenceTaylor Crescent Delta BC V4K 3E2 www.corp.delta.bc.ca
land will not be destroyed. In fact, the plan gives Tsawwassen a guarantee that sustainable farming will take place on the Southlands in perpetuity. 5. Wildlife habitat will not be destroyed. Rather, it will be enhanced through hedgerows between the fields and the guarantee the forest will remain forever. 6. The plan is focused on creating sustainable, community-based farming at a level unheard of before now. The thinking is innovative and Tsawwassen will transform into a town whose economy and very reason for being is centered on local food production. 7. There was never any vote held on Oct. 29, 2009, never mind the statement of a “vast majority” rejecting the plan. The plan has never been formally presented to the municipality or to the citizens of Delta. 8. The allegation that our hard-working councillors are in a conflict of interest regarding the Toigo project amendment is completely false and has no truth in law or even perception. The amendment requested was
Survey is an expensive waste of time
Editor: I received the much-touted [by Mayor Lois Jackson and CAO George Harvie] Ipsos Reid survey today. Far from being a tool that will provide any kind of genuine guidance to anyone, it is in my opinion a useless and expensive joke. Why? 1. It can be answered by any resident. This means any child old enough to write, visiting relatives, exchange students and anyone else who finds themselves under a roof in Tsawwassen can fill one in. This one aspect alone invalidates any results. I am surprised that a firm as highly reputed as Ipsos Reid failed to qualify the respondents more narrowly — a failure I don’t think would have happened had Angus Reid still been a part of the firm.
Public Open House
Date/Time Tuesday, June 15, 2010 5:00 - 8:00 pm
cent over a 25-year period. Driving time along 56th Street from 1st Avenue to Highway 17 will increase by an average of one to two minutes after 25 years. 2. The claimed population increase of 20 per cent was calculated over a 25year period without taking into account the fact that at present, our population is declining by roughly 100 people per year. The Southlands project will add about 180 people each year over 25 years. Hardly a problem. 3. The claim that 40,000 trucks of fill are required shows a lack of understanding. The plan calls for a lake to be constructed along 56th Street between 6th Avenue and 4th Avenue. There is more fill available from that lake than is required to meet all flood plain regulations. In fact, the excess fill can assist the municipality in extending and maintaining the Beach Grove dike. Such fill will be much cheaper than imported fill. There will be few trucks bringing in bulk materials. 4. High-quality farm-
Editor: Re: Public grows distrustful of developers because goalposts always changing, letter to the editor, June 9 Ted Laturnus sounds to be one bitter man with a grudge. “Toigo ... is still just another grasping,
profit-driven developer ...” Yikes! Is profit suddenly a dirty word? Chances are more than likely that Laturnus — unless he lives in a tent — resides in a building and subdivision that he probably enjoys, and which was created with foresight
and at considerable risk by none other than just such a “grasping, profit-driven developer.” If it weren’t for the likes of people prepared to take risk for possible reward, Tsawwassen would not exist today. Geoff Eldred