Peace Arch News Tuesday, September 25, 2012
letters
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Peace Arch News
Zoning intent circumvented Editor: White Rock – a free for all. “My City by the Sea” is now the “new Canada.” We like the diversity of people and ideas encountered here. However, I am appalled at the laxity of rules for development, especially in-fills. To whom does it make sense that in my East Beach neighbourhood an 11,000-square-foot house with a six-car parking garage fits the current zoning rules? I do not fault my neighbor, because he is building a home for himself and his extended families. I do not blame the city planners, who acknowledge the intent of the law has been circumvented. I do blame our councils, who continue to allow the chaos the current zoning rules create, and who choose not to change them. Should every permit application not meet with the letter – as well as the intent – of our laws? The rule of maximum square footage does not logically fit all situations. We own this city. We can make new rules and work to see that they are not circumvented. We are a small city for one reason only – to maintain “My City by the Sea,” not a megalopolis of inappropriate development, be it an eight-foot house beside a mega home or a mega home beside our cottage. Council, I suggest a new program of common sense development or join Surrey and lower our taxes. Lorraine & Chip Hand, White Rock
Dogs are individuals Editor: Re: City seeks help with dog attacks, Sept. 20; Parents thankful girl, 4, survives pit bull attack, Aug. 28. I don’t think I am surprised by people’s reaction to the news, but I am annoyed with the pit bull story. I am sorry about what happened to the little girl but you can’t generalize. Every decade had its own breed of dogs that were considered aggressive. I still say it’s not the breed, it is the dog. We people tend to generalize and give names to things we don’t understand – like calling one group of people all drug dealers, another white trash and another terrorists – but we know there are a few bad apples, and you can’t generalize and use these terms on everybody. We are individuals. So are the dogs. When people say there were no warning signs, that is not true. There is always a warning sign; maybe not at the instance when the dog attacks, but before. A dog is an animal; you cannot trust them 100 per cent. You don’t know what can trigger the attack, especially when there are children involved. I have a dog; it’s not a pit bull.
And my boyfriend had a dog who was mellow, especially with kids, till one day it reacted to a little girl. It did not harm her, but there was a sign. One day a lady came to the house and, out of the blue, the dog bit her – thank God not too hard. Later, it growled a few times at people – there was the sign again. It was the hardest decision, but we put the dog down. We knew if it happens once, it can happen again. We tend to ignore small signs because we love our dogs. You have a choice to keep it on a leash and ask for professional help or, if the aggression grows, it’s your responsibility to put the dog down. I see many little dogs totally aggressive, and the owners find it cute because they are small. It is not cute; it is an out-of-control animal that can create problems, but we
tend to be more afraid of big dogs because of their size and strength. Don’t condemn the breed. We people with dogs should help each other create a safer place for everyone. Eva Hompoth,White Rock
White Rock’s leap of faith Editor: I’ve had to deal with so many jaywalkers in White Rock, almost daily. Who’s at fault? Is it the pedestrian who is only a 100 yards from a crosswalk or the lights who decides to cross? Or is it the drivers who stop and
allow them to cross? Many elderly people with their walkers cross four lanes on Martin Drive or North Bluff Road. I also have seen two parents and their children under the ages of five run across four lanes on 16 Avenue. I was recently in Ontario and experienced the crosswalks there. The crosswalks have overhangs and large yellow markings, hard to miss. Yet, the drivers there rarely stop for the pedestrians patiently waiting at the designated crossing and, in fact, it’s high risk for the pedestrian to do so. In White Rock, it’s a leap of faith when the pedestrian crosses the road. Will the driver stop at an undesignated crossing? I guess we do, because there is a lot of jaywalking around here. Anna Lund, White Rock
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quote of note
I would like to know where this study was conducted. Was it in a neighbourhood of houses that have storage for these monstrosities?❞ ❝
S. Pike
contributed photos
Letter-writer Monty Pownall shows before-and-after photos of waste handling for City of Surrey residents.
In with the old, out with the new Editor: About three years ago, the City of Surrey had a very handy and workable garbage/recycling program. There was one blue box for newsprint, one container for glossy paper and another for glass and plastic. Also, there was a plan to get rid of the yard waste. For some unknown reason – without any rationale – it was then deemed better to combine all of this “crap” into the same container – to be sorted in another manner. And now, delivered to our homes last week, we have a new system that is quite cumbersome and awkward. Where does one hide these horrible three huge plastic containers? People will have to build additional storage areas – or leave them out on the street, as I intend to do. Of course, I will paint them in pastel colours in order to spruce up our city. By themselves they are so ugly. Al Renflesh, Surrey n Just received our new garbage cans. Where am I to put them? I have sent photos of them (above right), and of the driveway and space we have. I have also sent what my wife and I have been using for years (above left). The blue box went out once a month, maybe twice. No bags to go into the cans? I have seen these cans all around our neighbourhood. They are all just sitting around; no one knows where to put them or what to do with them. We cannot even use them until Oct. 1. Who thought – or did not think – up this plan? Huge waste of taxpayers’ money. We cannot pay teachers and are short on transit funding, yet we can do this unnecessary garbage change-up? And no, I am not a teacher nor do I have any in my family. How are we to keep them clean? Before, we had a plastic liner. Now, we have pint-size paper bags?
Someone help! Another waste of time. No consultation with the public again. Just the government doing things that do not make sense. Monty Pownall, Surrey n According to a notice that was sent out, a pilot study with 1,000 Surrey households was conducted and 90 per cent were supportive of the cart-based program. I would like to know where this study was conducted. Was it in a neighbourhood of houses that have storage for these monstrosities? I live in South Surrey – no yard, a short driveway and a narrow sidewalk with stairs to a 35-foot-wide backyard. I currently have a blue recycling box, which is set curbside with one round garbage container. Both these containers are manageable and don’t take up much space. But now, I am to struggle with containers that look like they belong in an industrial/commercial zone. And where are they supposed to be kept? It is said it will only cost us an extra $36.50 per year for bin liners. But what about the industrial sizes of baking soda we have to purchase, and the use of our metered water for cleanup? We are now left with large Kraft yard-cleanup bags, garbage-container liner bags, along with the clear yardcleanup bags that the Kraft bags replaced. No reduction in garbage rates? Has anybody bothered to ask residents of other cities about the abundance of rats and the maggots? South Surrey is a visually appealing area but is now in jeopardy of losing its appeal. I am forced to keep my nice new shiny carts on city property in front of my house. I emailed my concerns regarding manageability and storage in early January but – as usual – no response. Another gross waste of taxpayer money. S. Pike, Surrey
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