Editor:
Re: High demand for beach parkade, Jan. 17 letters.
In response to last week’s letter to the editor and photograph, I submit the above photos taken this past Saturday at lunchtime.
Folks, these are the long winter months at the beach. Parking lots are mostly empty except for the odd nice day.
The letter writer claims there were thousands of cars circling White Rock. I will have to call those silly “alternate facts.” Perhaps the extra parking is for the Airbnb she advertises.
Can the taxpayers justify $2,500 per household for a $15 million parkade that will operate at a loss, bring crime to the beach and is out of touch with the neighbourhood.
Word on the street is our mayor and council are planning highrises on the beach.
So I am asking here and now: Mayor Wayne Baldwin and council, are you planning highrises on our beach, yes or no? The taxpaying voters may have something to say about this.
(Editor’s note: Asked by Peace Arch News if there is a succinct answer to the question, Baldwin responded, “Succinctly put – absolutely not. That is total nonsense.”)
What is the parkade really for? We the people demand answers. After all, this is still a democracy.
Christy Fox, White Rock
• • •
Ah, yes! There was a recent sunny day, so the issue of lack of beachfront parking issue came up again in the PAN.
There is a very direct correlation between sunshine and a recurrence of the parking issue. Why not get solar-powered driverless shuttles to take people from nearby uptown stops to the beach? Solutions such as this are being used in places such as Adelaide, Australia.
Oops! It is too late. White Rock council has already agreed to squander as much as $15 million – land and building – on a money-losing parkade.
Perhaps on the hundreds of other days, when the sun is not shining, we could put an inflatable white elephant atop a little used parkade, in an attempt to draw a crowd.
Stephen Christie, White Rock
