I attended the Juan de Fuca Land Use Committee (LUC) meeting on Feb. 15 and spoke against the resort near the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail proposed by Mr. Ender Ilkay. I have been a resident of Otter Point for over 35 years, and when I asked for a show of hands, it seemed to me that over three-quarters of the people there also identified themselves as local residents who oppose the development.Such opposition persists because the proposal has not changed substantially — it remains too large for the rural resource lands and too close to the Marine Trail. I would welcome tourism and resort development if it were of appropriate scale and were in a location that didn’t endanger the very attraction which it hopes to showcase. This proposal is for over 250 vacation homes of up to 900 sq. feet in size. As some at the meeting suggested, this seems more like a series of subdivisions than a resort. By comparison, Point No Point offers 25 cabins. It’s true that a number of people from outside the Sooke area also spoke in opposition to this development. They recognize the valuable asset the wilderness trail represents, not only to Sooke-area residents but to the whole region.Mr. Ilkay obviously also recognizes the trail’s value, and is seeking to profit from it. I don’t hold that against him – that’s his job as a developer. It is not, however, the job of the LUC or of the Regional District to necessarily facilitate private profit, but rather to represent the community in assessing the best use of lands for current and future residents.Finally, would the Sooke News Mirror please do its community a service by keeping editorial opinions on the editorial page, and refrain from putting them in the first paragraph of a front page “news story?” Sheila WhincupOtter Point
