Editor:
New West council's decision to consider an amendment to the Queensborough OCP for 1084 Tanaka Ct. reeks of desperation and shortsightedness and will lead to wasting the few taxpayer dollars the city has on unnecessary red tape and future headaches.
Kudos to councillors Chinu Das and Mary Trentadue for understanding the scope of the proposal's impact. Converting that parcel of land for any residential use is a recipe for costly long-term issues.Residences on that plot will effectively sit solo amidst the hub of commercial roads, trucks, big-box shops and the casino. Anybody that lives there will be isolated from the true community of Queensborough that the OCP was striving to build. The end result will be residents who will suffer noise pollution, traffic anxiety outside their door, and poor access to community amenities. This is in addition to the livability issues city staff already mentioned.
The proponent's sales pitch regarding accessibility to transit and close to schools and the community centre is a dream that will live out like a nightmare for future residents who have to schlep the 30 minutes across four lanes of busy highway daily with their kids or sit in the traffic jam outside their driveway on Boyd and Howe streets in the mornings.
Too often, elected officials are fooled by the "market housing" and "affordable rental" tags. Market price for housing at the moment is still unaffordable, with average prices near 900k in New West, and BC Housing labels affordable housing as rental housing as " housing with rents equal to, or lower than, average rates in the private-market" Developers aren't in the business of losing money, so don't expect them to be much lower than the aforementioned market price.
Contrary to Coun. Jaimie McEvoy's opinion, technicalities do matter, because they have consequences. Losing light industrial space affects the economy, businesses, taxes and overall livability of the region. Believing the housing can be solved with a single knee-jerk rezoning is sloppy leadership. Ironically, McEvoy once retweeted the following from fellow councillor Patrick Johnstone in 2018: Quick reminder: Any politician saying "the solution to [any longstanding problem] is simple" is either an idiot, or lying. Commonly both.
While housing is needed in the neighbourhood, deviating from a community plan in a way that will create more problems is not the answer. There are several lots for sale that are zoned for redevelopment and haven't sold yet in the neighbourhood. There are developments that are still finishing, and many units in some of the newest Aragon developments still haven't sold. Perhaps there are some solutions with those resources. Hopefully the New West council will take more time to rereview the Queensborough OCP before they make any further amendments.
G. Kalaw, Queensborough
