Dear editor,
I read with dismay the letter describing the proposed amendment to the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) being comparable to a Trojan horse.
The writer correctly points out that Stotan Falls and the remaining 185 acres of riverfront have been around for thousand of years and will continue to be around longer than any of our lifetimes.
What the writer and some other politicians are failing to grasp is that for about the last 100 years this property has been privately owned by forestry companies that allowed us full access.
The present owner is prepared to give the Comox Valley a gift of this beautiful riverfront park, valued in the millions of dollars. If we do not seize this opportunity to accept this property now we may lose access to the property for public use forever.
I’m sure that a frustrated developer could and would receive a high price for riverfront acreage lots and those same buyers would not then be willing for the public to roam all over their now-privately owned riverfront lots.
The writer quite rightly points out that the developer needs an amendment to the RGS to develop the remaining non-riverfront property allowing him to donate the 185 acres. I would contend that this is one of those exceptional situations why an amending formula was incorporated into the RGS in the first place.
Please consider why making a small amendment to the RGS now is not worth the donation of 185 acres of spectacular riverfront being converted from private to public use in perpetuity.
Lets hope that some of the politicians can get over their concerns about amending the growth strategies and look at the bigger picture of quality of life.
Imagine if Vancouver politicians hadn’t seized the opportunity to acquire 1,000-acre Stanley Park when that opportunity became available in 1886. I don’t think that anyone would question the enormous impact that Stanley Park has made to the quality of life in Vancouver.
J. Murray Presley,
Courtenay
