Dear editor,
Let me get this straight.
First I read in the Comox Valley Record (June 13), that a section of Dunsmuir Avenue between the Waverley Hotel and the Ilo-Ilo Theatre will be closed off for a Waverley party.
This closure of our main street right beside our fire/first responder hall is to last Aug. 2 from 4 p.m. to Aug. 3 at 2 a.m.
Since there was no mention of fee for the 450 tickets being issued, I assumed they were for access only. Then I read in the July/August Currently Cumberland that the tickets will cost $40 per person.
Really? For access to a public thoroughfare?
Then to top it all off, I hear via the Cumberland grapevine that the whole block between First and Second streets will be closed off.
My mind then goes first, to questions about lack of access through the venue to the people on Camp Road and Comox Lake from one whole block of our main street for 10 hours.
Next, I wonder about the lack of straight and direct access to our volunteer fire/first responder site for 10 hours should an accident or fire occur in our town or on the nearby Inland Island Highway.
Lastly, I worry about the precedent that this type of permission gives to every other business in our town.
In view of the aforementioned three points, is this closure wise? As the esteemed mayor of Campbell River, Walter Jakeway, is quoted as saying, “A responsible business owner should be running their business on their own property, not on a public street.”
Wayne Morrison,
Cumberland
