Dear Editor:
It seems the folks at New West City Hall believe that if they repeat the same - dare I say - lies often enough people will come to accept them as truth. The truth is, and this is for you Mayor Cote and council, the Parkade does not impede our access to the river: the truck route and train tracks are the impediment.
In fact, if there is a train at the Begbie crossing, pedestrians (and cyclist who are so inclined) can opt to climb the stairs up to the parkade to cross over the train and proceed without having to backtrack to the pedestrian crossing at the Quay.
As for the dirty air, I am on Front Street six days a week for anywhere from four to 10 hours every day. The air in my premises is not fouler than the air at city hall. While the Front Street truck route is arguably the busiest truck route in Metro, the air is in constant movement with traffic and the prevailing winds off the river and the worst pollution issues, aside from littering, I deal with are the dust from the rubber that scrubs of the tire of vehicles as they travel down the road and the noise pollution of traffic and trains.
The existing structure offers potential solutions to both these issues in the form of noise abatement installations that could also keep much of the particulate debris inside the truck corridor itself. The issue of structural soundness has been dealt with elsewhere but is another example of a 'fabricated' rationale for demolition.
While it is certainly true that the city has been working for over a decade to push this plan forward, it is not true that they haven't faced, and continue to face, significant opposition from both the businesses and residents of the city.
The city's parking commission, which is a citizens' body, appointed by council, has consistently opposed this plan and many others that the city has been driving in downtown for years.
In fact, as best I can determine, the parking commission is the only city commission or committee that does not have a city councillor assigned as a chair, co-chair or member. This begs the question why?
I'd suggest that this is the case because this commission has consistently opposed the city's plans involving parking in downtown, and most specifically the demolition of all or part of this structure. By ignoring this commission and its opposition, the city has effectively denied the key to its own public process.
As evidenced by other high-profile issues that have come up in the city, what is presented as "public consultation" most frequently manifests itself as a public information session where the city presents its plans to the citizens - a situation that many people have complained about over and over again.
The recent initiative being pushed to completely eliminate public discussions of development plans early in the development process is another step towards an ever more autocratic administration in our city hall.
I'm not even going to dignify the "it's ugly" rationale since the plan is to beautify the part we're keeping, so if one end can be beautified, why not the whole thing?
In conclusion, what I see and hear after four years of "discussion" with the city about the parkade is a steadfast determination to destroy a perfectly good facility that can help us create a stunning attraction that can make downtown New West as interesting a destination as Lonsdale Quay or Granville Market and serve as a stimulus for a revitalized and interesting commercial district to serve both our residents and potentially millions of visitors to our once proud city.
I personally would like to live in a city where "consultation" means listening with both open ears and open minds and then proceeding, as opposed to the "my way or the highway" attitude that has been prevalent here for far too long now.
Harm Woldring
